Trump And Biden Battle It Out In Florida

Last Thursday saw presidential candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden make their final plays for votes in the key swing state of Florida. With the help of First Lady Melania, Trump held a campaign rally in Tampa while Biden spoke at a drive-in event, also held in Tampa.

New data released in October showed an increase in the speed of economic recovery in the US but the two candidates differed in their interpretation of the figures, which also hinted at worrying deeper trends, including how the unemployment rate has doubled since February. “Look, I said, I got in this race for three reasons a year ago, little over a year, and I meant it. The first was to restore the soul of this country. This is not who we are, is not who we are. We’re more decent, honorable. We’re more respectful. We’re better people than we’ve been seen from this administration,” Biden said at the beginning of his rally.

“Second reason was to restore the backbone of this country, the middle class and bring everybody along this time. And thirdly, to unite this country. We have to unite us. These final days, keep that sense of empowerment with you. That sense of optimism, what we can do, what we can overcome. That’s the God’s truth. “I’ve never been more optimistic about America and America’s chances than I am today. Because I know the American people. I know who we are. We have never, ever, ever, ever let the country down and give it a chance. And on November 3rd, we’re going to unite this country and show the world who America really is.”

The Trump administration made sure to broadcast previously unseen Spanish language advertisements that demonstrated the president wearing a mask, even though his rally, held outside a Tampa football stadium, took place in front of a packed crowd of thousands of maskless fans. Trump also referred to his recent experience battling coronavirus and implied that his speedy recovery and mild symptoms meant that the virus and surrounding pandemic was not something to be overly worried about. Polls suggest that voting is split in the crucial battleground of Florida but it seems that his history with refusing to advocate masks has alienated older voters, a key demographic in the state. Many electoral analysts have suggested that failure to win Florida would make it almost impossible for Trump to continue his presidency.

“This election is a choice between my plan to deliver historics. And you know what this is going to be, right? Historic. This is historic prosperity. Another major tax cut to go along with the biggest tax cut in the history of our country. And record job growth,” Trump said during his rally in Tampa. “And Joe Biden’s plan is to deliver punishing lockdown. He’s going to lock you down. And Florida’s all opened up. You have a great governor. Did he speak too long today or not? No? No, I watched him on the plane. I said, “Oh, look, there’s Ron.” They have the little thing in the box. I said, “Oh look, there’s Ron. He’s speaking.” He looked like he was up there a long time. She said yes. He’s a great governor. You have a great governor. He’s a great guy.”

At Biden’s drive-in rally, the Democrat candidate made a point of paying particular attention to the Latino communities in Florida, a group whose interest he has so far failed to attract. Biden criticized Trump’s foreign policies and argued that his administration was ‘the worst possible standard bearers for democracy’ in Cuba and other autocratic countries. “President Trump can’t advance democracy and human rights for the Cuban people, for the Venezuelan people, when he has embraced so many autocrats around the world,” Biden said.

During the event Biden and his team also launched a new advertisement, promising to initiate a special taskforce on his first day at the helm of the country to find the families of the 545 children separated from their families on the Southern border under the previous administration’s immigration policies. “They want to give you massive tax hikes. The first time that I’ve ever seen … I’ve been with politics all my life, essentially. Only doing this for a few years on this side of it. But we’ve done well, haven’t we? What do you think?” Trump questioned during his rally.

“A senator came into my office, said, “Sir.” An older guy, nice guy, pro, total pro. “Sir, I’ve been in nine races and I’ve won seven of them. So now I’m a United States Senator.” I said, “Senator, I’ve been in one race and I’ve won one. Now we want to win two. But I won one. But it was the presidency.” We took them all by surprise, didn’t we? We took them by surprise. They’re still trying to recover.”