Trump: The Corona pandemic will end soon
Trump accused his rival, Joe Biden, of exaggerating the Corona crisis.
(EPA)
US President Donald Trump promised his supporters in Florida that the Corona virus pandemic would soon end, and accused his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, of exaggerating this health crisis to frighten Americans and make them vote for him.
The pandemic, which has killed more than 224,000 people in the United States and made millions more lose their jobs, has become the dominant issue in the election campaign as Trump has taken a defensive stance on how he handled the crisis.
Biden said earlier on Friday that Trump had abandoned containing the virus, and promised that if he wins the November 3 election, he will ask Congress to pass a comprehensive Covid-19 bill that he will sign within the first ten days of taking office.
"He has abandoned America. He just wants us to feel numb," Biden said during a speech in his hometown of Wellington, Delaware.
He continued: "I will not shut down the economy. I will not shut down the country. I will eliminate the virus."
Biden was mocked by Trump at two rallies in swinging state of Florida for saying at Thursday night's presidential debate that the United States is entering a "dark winter."
He said the former vice president and his Democratic allies were trying to frighten people by amplifying the virus threat.
"We will end this epidemic quickly," said Trump, who downplayed the threat from its inception, in Villages, Central Florida.
Trump later told a large crowd in Pensacola that the election was a choice "between boom and lockdown."
While there are only 11 days left before the elections, the University of Florida Election Project said that the elections could set a new record in the turnout, surpassing the turnout rate that reached 60 percent in the last presidential elections.
The increase in early voting indicates the high interest in racing and people's eagerness to avoid the risk of catching COVID-19 during election day crowds.
Opinion polls show Trump lagging Biden publicly and with a smaller margin in the many swing states that will determine who will enter the White House on January 20, 2021.
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