There’s a certain desperation in Donald Trump’s voice as he attempts to find any leverage against Joe Biden, as the former vice president continues to lead both national and battleground state polls with 52 days to go until the election.
Trump has known for over a year how difficult Biden would be, risking impeachment by pressuring Ukraine in an effort to find dirt on the former vice president.
That effort resulted in Trump’s impeachment in the House, but Biden still captured the Democratic nomination.
Tonight, Trump arrived at the MBS International Airport in Freeland, Michigan, where he was met by a cheering crowd of several thousand, packed shoulder-to-shoulder, mostly without masks.
He immediately launched an attack on Biden, first commenting on the primary debates.
The first lady actually came in, and she watched the debate and she watched Joe and she said, “Darling, it’s so sad,”‘ Trump claimed, before taking aim at Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris, who he called the ‘most liberal person in the USA’.
The mention of Harris brought on boos and jeers from the crowd.
‘On November 3 Michigan you better vote for me! I got you so many damn car plants,’ Trump said.
Trump then claimed that Biden is trying to ‘eliminate new jobs and open your borders’.
He’s promised to flood your states with refugees,’ Trump said. ‘He would open up the floodgates amid a pandemic and by the way the wall is over 311 miles long right now.’
‘The murder rate in Democrat-run cities like Chicago, Baltimore, New York [and] so many others is higher than in Afghanistan, yet Biden supports imposing these failed policies nationwide. You will have crime like you’ve never seen it before,’ Trump insisted.
‘If Joe Biden is elected far-left lunatics won’t just be running frail Democrat cities, they’ll be running the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and the US Supreme Court, and we can’t let that happen.
‘No city, town or suburb will be safe. On November 3 your vote will save America. Remember it’s the most important elect we’ve ever had,’ Trump added.
Trump arrived in Michigan for the rally despite pushback from officials worried that his rallies are growing in size and flouting public health guidelines intended to halt the COVID-19 spread.
Michigan’s Democratic Gov Gretchen Whitmer has also raised alarms about the rally.
Trump’s arrival in Michigan comes as he grapples with the fallout from new book ‘Rage’ by Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward.
In a series of 18 interviews with Woodward, the president spoke frankly about the dangers posed by the virus – even as he downplayed them publicly – and admitted he had tried to mislead the public.
The book, based on recorded phone interviews, has refocused attention on Trump’s handling of the virus, a subject he has tried to shift away from less than two months before Election Day.
Before departing the White House Trump denied he had lied to the nation and highlighted a surge in virus cases in Europe to contend that the United States is faring well. ‘I really do believe we’re rounding the corner,’ he asserted.
‘Donald Trump knew all along just how deadly this virus is,’ Biden said in a virtual fundraiser. ‘He knew and purposefully played it down because all he was concerned about was his reelection, didn’t want to affect economic growth.’
Congress’ top Democrats, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, set the party’s theme on the subject: ‘Trump lied and people died.’
Trump is resuming an aggressive campaign schedule, despite growing resistance from local leaders who have expressed alarm at his insistence on holding large-scale rallies during a pandemic.
While the rallies so far have been held in airport hangars open to the air, they have been drawing thousands of supporters despite local restrictions. And the majority of attendees have refused to wear masks, even when mandates are in place.
This week, Nevada pulled the plug on rallies set for this weekend, citing the state’s ban on gatherings of more than 50 people, drawing fury from Trump’s campaign.
The Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority warned a company that planned to host the campaign rally for 5,000 people at a private hangar that it would be in violation of the governor´s restrictions and the terms of the company´s lease for the hangar.
‘You are hereby advised that you may not proceed with the proposed gathering,’ the letter states.
While Trump aides had all but written off the state earlier this summer, they now say they have seen a tightening in recent weeks and believe they are in a better position than they were in 2016.
But Democrats see optimism, too, having made major gains there in the 2018 midterms, winning every major statewide office and a handful of congressional seats as well.
Both candidates have been paying frequent visits, with Biden traveling to suburban Detroit on Wednesday to make a direct appeal to blue-collar workers who might have voted Republican four years ago but now regret it.