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Trump supporters wait four hours in wet, near-freezing temperatures
President Donald Trump has started his busy day of campaigning with a cold, rain-soaked rally in Lansing, Michigan.
Most polls show Trump trailing Democrat Joe Biden in a state that Trump won narrowly in his 2016 victory. The president told the thousands that gathered on Tuesday that “seven days from now we’re going to win the great state of Michigan.”
Some of Trump's supporters waited four hours in the wet, near-freezing temperatures to see him.
President Donald Trump arrives at Capital Region International Airport for a campaign rally in Lansing, Michigan.Credit:AP
Trump says their enthusiasm underscores to him that he’s got momentum going into the final days before the election.
Trump also plans to campaign Tuesday in Wisconsin and Nebraska.
AP
Obama accuses Trump of COVID-19 'incompetence' at Orlando rally
Campaigning in Orlando just hours ago, former President Barack Obama has lashed out at President Donald Trump and urged state voters to turn out "like never before" to put Joe Biden in the White House.
Obama focused on the president's response to the coronavirus pandemic, including his efforts to downplay it at recent campaign rallies even as cases surge nationwide.
"He's jealous of COVID's media coverage," Obama said, adding that instead of focusing on controlling its spread, "He's turned the White House into a hot zone."
Former US President Barack Obama campaigning for Joe Biden.Credit:AP
Obama added: "Florida, we cannot afford four more years of this. We cannot afford this kind of incompetence and indifference."
Obama urged all Floridians to vote for Biden and if they've already voted, to help friends and family get to the polls.
Polls have shown a razor-thin margin between former vice-president Biden and Trump, so both candidates and their allies are campaigning nearly non-stop in the state. By Tuesday morning, about 6.4 million Floridians had either voted by mail or cast ballots at an early-voting location.
The drive-in rally, held outside Camping World Stadium in the park that was once Tinker Field, drew supporters in 273 cars, the campaign said. The vehicles wrapped around the podium, and drivers honked their horns and cheered in approval as Obama spoke. The audience was invitation-only, as the Biden campaign sought to limit crowd size and maintain social distancing because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer were among the speakers who warmed up the crowd.
"This is the biggest drive-up event that's been held in Florida," Dyer said. 'How about that?"
"You are the most important voters in this country," Dyer said. "We need to win Florida, and we need to win the I-4 corridor for Biden-Harris."
Fried said the work done by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg paved the way for higher office for herself and many other women. Ginsburg was succeeded Monday by Trump appointee Amy Coney Barrett, who is expected to turn the Supreme Court to the right.
"That is what's on the ballot this year," Fried said. "We have to make sure that Ruth Bader Ginsburg's legacy is not lost."
Biden campaign volunteer Mary Lou Nethers said she was "very hopeful" about Biden's chances of winning the state.
"I'm seeing a lot of Republicans come into our office for signs and 'Republicans for Biden' buttons and they're giving generous donations," said Nethers, who was sometimes drowned out by her friend honking their SUV's horn. "So that makes me think a good number of this Republican turnout is for Biden."
University of Central Florida senior Emma Trittin said her age group of 18- to 29-year-olds was coming out in force this year, with more than 200,000 voting early.
"I think it speaks volumes," Trittin said. "I think Floridians are really fed up with how the past four years have gone with the Trump administration. … And there's still a week left until the election. Youth are really stepping up and voting because they know that they have power in their voice."
The trip comes after Obama held a drive-in car rally for the Biden campaign in Miami on Saturday.
Biden himself is scheduled to be in Broward County and Tampa on Thursday, part of a last-week campaign swing through the crucial swing state.
McClatchy
Biden goes on offence in Georgia while Trump targets Midwest
With just over 150 hours until the official polling day, the candidates are making the most of every minute. As we mentioned earlier, the Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is in Georgia now. He then plans to travel to Iowa, which Trump took by 10 points in 2016, later in the week.
His running mate, California Senator Kamala Harris, is heading to Arizona and Texas, where Republicans haven't lost any statewide office since 1994 – the nation's longest political winning streak.
One week until election day: US Presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump.Credit:Shutterstock
The aggressive schedule is a sign of confidence by the Biden team, which is trying to stretch the electoral map and open up more paths to 270 electoral college votes. But after Democrats flirted with Republican territory in 2016, only to lose those states as well as their traditional Midwestern strongholds, Biden's campaign is mindful of overreaching.
The former vice-president will also visit in the coming days Wisconsin, Michigan and Florida.
Georgia, where Biden will make two stops on Tuesday, has increasingly become a draw for Democrats in recent years, as turnout increases among black voters and the Atlanta suburbs tilt away from the Republican Party.
"If this was the Georgia of 2008, 2012, I think there's no way we would have seen a Biden come this late," said Nsé Ufot, chief executive officer of the New Georgia Project, which aims to increase voter registration, especially among young people and minorities. "It's a loud signal and acknowledgment of Georgia as a battleground state."
President Donald Trump is staying focused on the so-called "blue wall" states that he flipped in 2016: Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, where he'll return today to hit West Salem just three days after holding a Janesville rally. AP
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Good morning!
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the final week of the 2020 US election! I'm Hanna Mills Turbet and I'll be with you until early afternoon.
With just one week until election day (it's still Tuesday in the US) Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has headed to Georgia – which hasn’t backed a Democrat for president since 1992 – and plans to push into other territory where President Donald Trump was once expected to easily repeat his wins from four years ago.
US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington bound for Michigan.Credit:Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg
President Trump, meanwhile, has a busy afternoon/evening schedule. He is in Michigan right now, and then plans to hold rallies in Wisconsin and Nebraska.
We will bring you the key developments as they happen, each day, right up until the November 3 election and beyond. Strap in for the ride.
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