Democrat Joe Biden, pressing the case that President Donald Trump doesn’t deserve a second term because of his handling of the pandemic, told a drive-in rally Saturday in Bucks County that he didn’t “like the idea of all this distance but it’s necessary” for public health reasons.
“We don’t want to become superspreaders,” he said, using a term that has been used to described a Rose Garden event in late September where Trump announced his Supreme Court nominee. More than two dozen people linked to the White House have contracted COVID-19 since that gathering.
Biden, with some help expected later Saturday in Luzerne County from rock legend Jon Bon Jovi, was courting voters in hotly contested pockets of Pennsylvania that could prove key to deciding the outcome of the race in the state.
Trump, meanwhile, said he voted Saturday “for a guy named Trump” and called it an “honor” to cast his own ballot in his adopted home state of Florida before he jetted off to campaign in three battleground states, where large crowds awaited even as coronavirus cases are surging to records in the country.
Biden hasn’t voted and is likely do so in person on Election Day, Nov. 3., as Delaware doesn’t offer early voting. Trump, who has made unsubstantiated claims of massive fraud about mail-in voting, gave another plug to in-person voting.
“When you send in your ballot it could never be like that. It could never be secure like that,” said Trump before leaving for his campaign stops.
Trump rallies were planned for Lumberton, North Carolina, Circleville, Ohio, and Waukesha, Wisconsin, and the president promises to go full throttle over the final 10 days of the campaign even as the number of new daily coronavirus cases continues to climb.
The president is scheduled Monday to make a campaign stop in at Lancaster Airport in Lititz, Pennsylvania, pennlive.com reported.
In the Nov. 3 election more than 54 million votes have already been cast, with an additional 100 million or so expected before a winner is declared.
Saturday’s campaigning played out against a backdrop of the United States on Friday hitting a daily record of coronavirus cases, with more than 83,000 reported infections -- thousands more than the previous U.S. peak in July. The U.S. death toll has grown to nearly 224,00, according to the tally published by Johns Hopkins University. The total U.S. caseload reported Friday was 83,757, topping the 77,362 cases reported on July 16.
Lehigh Valley infectious disease experts this week stressed the need for vigilance in combating the coronavirus with proven mitigation strategies like wearing a mask, social distancing and good hygiene.
The numbers are an ominous sign the disease still has a firm grip on the nation that has more confirmed virus-related deaths and infections than any other in the world. Many states are reporting a surge of cases and say hospitals are running out of space in areas where the pandemic seemed remote only months ago.
Biden’s first stop was in Bristol, Bucks County, part of suburban Philadelphia that Hillary Clinton won by a slim margin in the 2016 White House race. Bon Jovi, a native of neighboring New Jersey, was slated to sing at the later event in Luzerne County, a blue-collar area that twice voted for Barack Obama but went overwhelmingly for Trump four years ago.
The pandemic has pushed Trump onto the defensive for much of the fall, but for the moment it is Biden’s team that has been forced to explain itself. In the final minutes of Thursday night’s debate, the former vice president said he supports a “transition” away from oil in the U.S. in favor of renewable energy. The campaign released a statement hours later declaring that he would phase out taxpayer subsidies for fossil fuel companies, not the industry altogether.
But Trump, campaigning in Florida, repeatedly seized on the issue.
“That could be one of the biggest mistakes made in presidential debate history,” he said at a Friday rally at The Villages, a sprawling retirement community in central Florida. Later, in Pensacola, Trump recounted the moment with glee.
While Florida is still logging thousands of new COVID-19 cases daily, audience members stood and sat shoulder-to-shoulder and Make America Great Again hats far outnumbered face coverings. In-person voting in the state began Monday.
As part of his damage control, Biden dispatched running mate Kamala Harris to help clarify his position as she campaigned in swing state Georgia on Friday. He also sought to clarify his position during his remarks during in Bristol.
“Let me be clear, I’m not banning fracking in PA or anywhere else,” said Biden, joined by his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, who wore a navy face mask reading “VOTE.”
People in about 100 cars blared their horns.
Harris, in Georgia, said: “Let’s be really clear about this: Joe Biden is not going to ban fracking,” referring to a technique that uses pressurized liquid to extract oil or natural gas. “He is going to deal with the oil subsidies. You know, the president likes to take everything out of context. But let’s be clear, what Joe was talking about was banning subsidies, but he will not ban fracking in America.”
While ending the nation’s reliance on fossil fuel is popular among many liberals, the idea could hurt him among working-class voters in swing states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Texas who depend on the industry, and fracking in particular, to make a living.
Trump’s allies immediately began running new attack ads seizing on the Democrats' inconsistent answers on energy.
As part of his plan to fight climate change, Biden has said he would ban new gas and oil permits — including fracking — on federal lands only. The vast majority of oil and gas does not come from federal lands.
In addressing climate change Saturday morning, Biden said: "According to the best data we have, southeast Pennsylvania, including Bucks County — is warming faster than any other part of the state.
“How long before floods start picking up along the Delaware River? We can do something about it. But we’ve got to come together,” according to a copy of his prepared remarks.
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The Associated Press and supervising reporter Kurt Bresswein contributed to this report. Reach him at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
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