Trump news: President limits rally to 21 minutes after crowds kept out by Covid restrictions
Follow the latest updates
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
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
Trump says ‘touchy-feely’ Biden has lost his personality ‘and a lot of other things’
“And let’s face it he’s shot, do you agree with that? I can say I’m not a fan of his, never was, he was never known as the smart one in the Senate,” Trump says.
“He was a touchy-feely guy little personality, had a good personality, now the personality is gone and a lot of other things are gone.”
Trump says he’s stopped ‘murderers and rapists’ coming into the US
Speaking at a campaign rally on Friday, Trump said his border policy and construction of the wall preventing murderers and rapists entering the US.
“People aren’t’ getting into our country, murderers and rapists,” he said. “They’re not coming into our country anymore, we’re working very closely with Mexico, they’ve 27,000 troops on the border.”
Trump says keeping ‘radical Islamic terrorists’ out of the country
“You saw what’s going on in France right, you saw that and they had another big attack last night, a really bad one, we are keeping, if it’s ok with you if it’s ok with the people of Michigan, you’ve got to give me approval, we are keeping radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country,” Trump says.
Trump says 250-limit on Minnesota rally is ‘suppression’
“They told us we could only have 250 people so they thought I’d cancel,” Trump says.
“The President of the United States is going to Minnesota to talk to people and they’re suppressing it and they think that’s good but I don’t.”
Trump compared Minnesota riots to Berlin during World War Two
“This is after a week and a half of terror, remember you had that idiot anchor from CNN stand, ‘this has been a friendly protest’ and over his shoulder it looked like Berlin in its worst day during the war, the worst day they ever had,” Trump says
Trump says Ilhan Omar will deliver him the presidency
“Omar, that’s the other reason I’m going to win. Ilhan Omar she loves our country very much,” Trump says.
“She’s going to protest when I go up there and I’ll say thank you very much every time you protest it’s going to add about 25 per cent of the vote… she’s telling us how to run our country and she doesn’t love our country that I can tell you.”
Is ‘macho man’ Trump too tough to beat? Inside the battle for the Latino vote
There is a major gender gap between Latino men and women in support for president, writes Andrew Buncombe.
Is ‘macho man’ Trump too tough to beat? Inside the battle for the Latino vote
Major gender gap between Latino men and women in support for president
The oldest president: How health and age shape Trump-Biden election
Two septuagenarians campaign during a public health crisis that exposes deep disparities in elder healthcare, writes Alex Woodward, but what does America need to know about its aging leadership?
America’s next president will be the nation’s oldest. The line of succession, currently, includes the 80-year-old House Speaker and the 87-year-old Senate president pro tempore. In Congress, the average age of the House of Representatives is more than 57 years old, while in the Senate, that figure is nearly 62 years old, among the oldest in US history. Donald Trump is 74 and the oldest person to serve as commander in chief. His challenger Joe Biden will be 78 less than three weeks after Election Day.
The oldest president: How health and age shape Trump and Biden
Two septuagenarians campaign during a public health crisis that exposes deep disparities in elder healthcare, writes Alex Woodward, but what does America need to know about its aging leadership?
Watch Trump’s Green Bay rally live with The Independent
BREAKING: Trump tells supporters in battleground Wisconsin Biden would let ‘rioters’ run the federal government
Donald Trump contended if Democratic nominee Joe Biden becomes president next week he will hand control of the federal government to “rioters” who are intent that “no community will be safe.”
“If Biden wins, the rioters in the streets, they’ll be running your federal government,” he told rally-goers on a cold day in the key swing state. “No city, no family and no community will be safe.”
The president hit all his usual targets in the home of the NFL’s Packers, railing against “Crooked Hillary” Clinton and the “fake news” media after warning voters about the “Biden crime family.”
“I’m all up here alone. The Democrats impeached me for making a phone call,” he said of his call with Ukraine’s president in which he asked his counterpart to announce a probe the Bidens’ activities there. “Now, we’ve got ‘big tech.’”
The Independent’s John T Bennett is following the story as it unfolds.
Trump wildly claims Biden would let ‘rioters’ run federal government
‘We win this state, it’s over,' president says as former GOP governor says his campaign is right to feel a 2016 repeat win there is possible
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments