Trump news: President limits rally to 21 minutes after crowds kept out by Covid restrictions
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In an unexpected turn of events, Donald Trump delivered one of his all-time shortest speech after his campaign rally in Minnesota was limited to 250 people.
Trump lashed out at governor Tim Walz for placing the restrictions. But that didn't stop the president visiting supporters waiting outside as he made a detour to press the flesh of devotees, which included adherents of the QAnon conspiracy.
Trump seemed focused on Minnesota earlier in the day while campaign in Michigan, using his rally to say Ilhan Omar doesn't love the US and would help deliver the election, while comparing George Floyd protests in Minneapolis to Berlin at the height of World War Two.
By the time he got to speak, however, the president had only 21-minutes for the small crowd which was dwarfed by the thousands being drawn to campaign events in other swing states.
Across town, Joe Biden lashed out at Minnesotans disrupting his campaign rally, saying the “ugly folks” were not polite for interrupting his speech criticizing Donald Trump over the Covid-19 pandemic.
The majority of Americans, meanwhile, believe Trump has harmed the standing of the US in the world, according to an exclusive poll for The Independent.
Whether or not that's a strong enough rebuke to lose Trump the presidency, Trump will find out from the privacy of the White House rather than the election night party in his Washington, DC hotel.
► For more on the race for the White House, follow our dedicated US election polling liveblog
Biden ahead in Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania
Donald Trump is trailing election rival Joe Biden in three crucial swing states, according to the latest Hill/Harris poll, losing by small margins in Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
“Joe Biden’s position in key swing states going into the final week suggests that Trump has so far been unable to generate enough momentum to close the gap,” comments pollster Mark Penn.
The challenger leads the president by three points in Florida, 50 per cent to 47 per cent, with three per cent still undecided (who are they?!)
In North Carolina, In North Carolina, Biden's lead is just one point: 49 per cent to 48 per cent. Again, three per cent of respondents said they were not sure who to vote for - even at this late stage in proceedings.
His biggest lead though is in his native Pennsylvania, where he is ahead by five - polling 51 per cent to Trump’s 46 per cent.
“In Florida, Trump has a strong Latino vote for a Republican but has problems with senior women concerned about the coronavirus,” Penn comments.
“In North Carolina, Trump is getting little to no black vote and is down in the suburbs to make a should-win state close.
“In Pennsylvania, Trump has strong rural support but is being pinned down by Biden in the suburbs, where the Democrat leads by a wide margin.”
Don Jr claims US coronavirus deaths down to ‘almost nothing’ as 1,000 recorded in single day and cases rise to 89,000
The president’s eldest son continues to endanger the lives of Fox News viewers - vital to his old man’s re-election hopes, let’s not forget - by spreading disturbing misinformation on the pandemic, just as Trump Sr did in Tampa when he undercut the national death toll.
This is what he had to say to Laura Ingraham last night:
Justin Vallejo has a fairly major reality check for him.
US logs highest number of Covid cases since pandemic began with 89,000 in a single day
‘If we had just been disciplined about employing all these public health methods early and aggressively, we would not be in the situation we are in now’
American voters would not approve of a Kamala Harris presidency, Independent poll finds
US citizens have indicated they would not approve of Joe Biden’s running mate becoming commander-in-chief, according to an exclusive poll for The Independent.
Only 28 per cent of poll respondents agreed that Harris should be president, while 44 per cent of respondents actively objected to the possibility.
When polling people voting for Biden, 44 per cent said they would support a Harris presidency while 20 per cent said they would not.
Danielle Zoellner reports.
Exclusive: American voters would not approve of a Kamala Harris presidency, poll finds
Only 28 per cent of Americans say they would support Ms Harris for a future presidency
Tucker Carlson’s mystery package containing 'damning' material about Bidens found by UPS
In a bizarre segment of his Fox News show on Wednesday night, Carlson alleged that his team had mailed some allegedly explosive documents from New York to Los Angeles relating to the Bidens after receiving them from a “source” on Monday, only for the bundle to get lost in the mail.
But speaking to The Daily Beast, a spokesperson for the delivery service announced: “After an extensive search, we have found the contents of the package and are arranging for its return.”
Which might give Carlson a chance to claw back some credibility,although last night he seemed to be washing his hands of the whole Hunter Biden affair after all.
Oliver O’Connell has the latest on this very odd chain of events.
UPS locates mysterious Tucker Carlson package
‘UPS will always focus first on our customers, and will never stop working to solve issues and make things right’
‘Scotland saw Trump for who he was years ago’
An ocean away from the US presidential race, Eve Lingston speaks to the folks who live near the president’s Turnberry golf resort to get their opinion on a man they first encounteted as a blustering New York real estate tycoon ruining their sand dunes.
An ocean and 4,000 miles away, Turnberry residents predict Trump’s re-election chances
On the Scottish coast, Eve Livingston finds that everyone has an anecdote about the world’s most powerful man. But not all agree on what should happen next week
Trump ‘polling worst in states with big coronavirus spikes’
The president won Wisconsin by just one percentage point in 2016 and is facing an uphill struggle there this time around, with the latest ABC/Washington Post survey placing Biden ahead by a whopping 17 points.
The same poll places the challenger ahead by a probably-insurmountable seven in Michigan.
Other than the fact that the president is taking his superspreader rally tour to both this weekend, what do these two northern states have in common?
Roaring cases of Covid, as Vox points out.
Over the last two weeks, the coronavirus case count in Wisconsin has jumped 36 per cent and is now averaging 4,200 new infections per day.
In Michigan, cases have risen 73 per cent over the same period to 2,600 per day.
“Biden is doing well everywhere - but his leads are even more solid in places where the coronavirus is hitting the hardest,” says Mike Greenfield, the chief executive officer of Change Research, an organisation that has been tracking the impact of the pandemic on voter decision making.
“We suspect that Biden’s especially strong lead in Wisconsin is the result of people seeing the ineffectiveness of Trump’s policies in that state.”
“Places that were hit hard or are currently being hit hard are going to be looking to some solutions for their day-to-day problems,” adds Amesh A Adalja of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “[They] may be looking to find a solution in the other candidate.”
Trump ‘won’t appear at election night party at DC hotel’
The New York Times reports today that the president is likely to stay at the White House on the evening of 3 November to watch the results come in rather than attend a soiree at his Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC.
Good move sir. It could be humiliating.
Meanwhile, after very little sleep, Trump is back on Twitter pushing Covid lies and election integrity smears, venting in all caps and attacking ex-Michigan governor Rick Snyder for backing Biden.
Minimalist Biden commercial asks voters to ‘silence’ Trump
The Democrat’s call for a calmer, more harmonious American political landscape is beautifully articulated here.
James Crump has this report.
Minimalist Biden commercial asks voters to ‘silence’ Donald Trump
Video targets US president’s views on climate change
MSNBC airs 80-second supercut of Trump’s racist remarks over the past 30 years
Amazing that this was even possible - let alone necessary - in a 21st century democracy but here we are.
Graig Graziosi has the story.
MSNBC airs 80-second supercut of Trump’s racist remarks over the past 30 years
Video shows Mr Trump making birther claims about Barack Obama, telling Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.”
Buttigieg takes down pro-Trump heckler
Where else but Florida, and St.Pete, for the former Democratic presidential candidate to deliver a masterclass in heckler take downs.
…and especially those in MAGA hats, if Wednesday was anything to go by.
James Crump has the report:
Pete Buttigieg takes down Trump-supporting heckler in Florida
‘When Joe Biden is president you will be safer too’
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