Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden criticized President Donald Trump’s assertion that the U.S. had passed the worst days of the epidemic, amid a crowd in Tampa, Florida on Thursday.
A Reuters / Ipsos poll released on Wednesday showed Trump virtually tied with Biden in Florida, with 49% saying they would vote for Biden and 47% for President Trump.
The state, which holds 29 electoral college votes, is considered a major prize in next Tuesday’s elections. Trump’s victory in Florida in 2016 was, in part, due to his surprise performance in Florida.
The Biden campaign on Thursday attempted to assuage Democrats’ fears that Biden is not reaching Latino voters at the national level, as former President Barack Obama once did.
Meanwhile, thousands of people, many without outdoor masks, gathered in Tampa on Thursday to hear Trump declare his rejection of the pandemic threat, even as leaders in Europe scrambled to contain the disease’s second wave and public health experts predicted a bleak winter in the United States.
At a Trump rally, supporters made fun of people who attended Biden’s rally, and Trump supporters raised banners with messages like “Socialism is bad.”
Florida is home to a large Latino population; Cuban Americans in South Florida tend to favour Republicans, while newer communities of Puerto Ricans in Central Florida lean more towards the Democrats.
The Covid-19 epidemic has claimed more than 227,000 lives in the United States.
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