Trump attacks kidnap plot victim Gretchen Whitmer as campaign heads to Wisconsin and Michigan
Both states break records for coronavirus cases as nation enters third ‘surge’
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Donald Trump launched a fresh attack on governor of Michigan Gretchen Whitmer just weeks after she was the victim of a right-wing militia kidnap plot.
Earlier Mr Trump lashed out at a Republican senator who warned that the president will inspire a GOP “blood bath” on Election Day.
He said that the president “regularly sells out our allies under his leadership” while he “spends like a drunken sailor."
“He mocks evangelicals behind closed doors," Senator Sasse said. "He's flirted with white supremacists."
Mr Trump hit back in a pair of tweets comparing “little” Sasse to Bob Corker and Jeff Flake, two other GOP senators who feuded with the president.
He said: “Both Senators became totally unelectable, couldn’t come even close to winning their primaries, and decided to drop out of politics and gracefully “RETIRE”. @SenSasse could be next, or perhaps the Republicans should find a new and more viable candidate?”
Meanwhile, with less than three weeks so Election Day, the president said he “won’t feel so good” if he loses to Joe Biden, as more than 25 million voters have already cast their ballots.
“Could you imagine if I lose?” he told rallygoers on 16 October. “I’m not going to feel so good. Maybe I’ll have to leave the country, I don’t know.”
The president headed to rallies in Wisconsin and Michigan on Saturday, despite both states reporting their largest single-day case counts since the onset of the public health crisis.
As the nation surpasses 8 million infections and is climbing its way into a third “surge" of cases and hospitalisations, Michigan reported its second consecutive day of more than 2,000 confirmed cases on Friday.
Wisconsin health officials reported three consecutive days with more than 3,000 cases. On Friday, the state recorded more than 4,000.
Nearly 70,000 coronavirus infections were reported in the US on Friday, marking the nation’s single highest confirmed daily case count since July.
Biden says he’s ‘praying for Wisconsin’ as Trump prepares for rally in coronavirus-stricken state
Joe Biden has addressed Wisconsin’s surging coronavirus outbreak, saying he’s “praying” for the state’s residents and condemning the president – who is set to hold a rally there later today – for his tackling of the pandemic.
"Wisconsin is in the grips of one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the country. Jill and I are praying for the health of those who’ve contracted the virus, and for the families who are mourning the loss of a loved one. We have lost far too many lives to this pandemic — and the sad fact is, it didn’t have to be this way," Mr Biden said a statement on Saturday.
The Democratic candidate went on to condemn the president’s approach to the pandemic, saying he has just "panicked and tried to wish it away".
"President Trump is knowingly downplaying the severity of the virus. At virtually every turn, he has panicked and tried to wish it away, rather than doing the hard work to get it under control," the former vice president said.
For Trump, city where ‘bad things happen’ looms large
When President Donald Trump told the world that “bad things happen in Philadelphia,” it was, in part, a blunt assessment of his party's struggles in the nation's sixth-most populous city.
For decades, Philadelphia has been the cornerstone of Democratic victories in the battleground state — producing Democratic margins so massive that winning statewide has been a longshot for most Republican presidential candidates.
For Trump, city where 'bad things happen' looms large
When President Donald Trump told the world that “bad things happen in Philadelphia,” it was, in part, a blunt assessment of his party’s struggles in a city that routinely anchors Democratic victories in the battleground state of Pennsylvania
Vote early, election officials urge postal voters
Election officials are advising people who are voting by bail to do as early as possible to ensure their ballot arrives to its destination ahead of Election Day.
While postal officials have insisted the service is more than equipped to handle the wave of mail-in ballots, delivery times vary across the country, and the service hasn’t always managed to deliver all first-class post within the five days window.
Furthermore, rules about accepting postal ballots arriving after 3 November vary from state to state.
Health officials fear Midwestern coronavirus surges may overwhelm rural hospitals
Rural Midwestern communities that had so far avoided the worst of the pandemic are experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases that doctors worry will overwhelm hospitals.
Counties across Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana have climbed into the top ranks for new cases per capita over the last two weeks, according to Johns Hopkins researchers.
Health officials in some small towns fear that the rising cases could overwhelm communities with restricted medical resources, while also reporting that they’re still struggling to convince people of how dangerous the coronavirus is.
Kamala Harris to return to campaigning after staffer tests positive
Kamala Harris will return to the campaign trail on Monday, the first event since her comms director and a flight crew member from her plane tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday.
The vice-presidential candidate, who has tested negative, will travel to Florida for an event.
Trump hits out at ‘little Ben Sasse’ after senator’s candid criticism
The president launched a two-tweet attack against Nebraska’s Republican Senator Ben Sasse, who didn’t hold back in his assessment of Trump’s first term in a call this week.
In recordings from the Washington Examiner and The New York Times, the senator said the US “regularly sells out our allies under his leadership” while he “spends like a drunken sailor” and his family treats “the presidency like a business opportunity. ”
“He mocks evangelicals behind closed doors," Senator Sasse said. "He's flirted with white supremacists."
He also warned that the president’s behavious will trigger a Republican "blood bath" in November.
In response, Trump had this to say:
Ben Sasse warned a Republican ‘blood bath’ is coming. Trump is calling it a ‘red wave’ instead
In recordings obtained by The New York Times, Republican Senator Ben Sasse said he’s avoiding the Trump Train and president’s campaign fearing a Republican “blood bath” in November.
Trump, on the other hand, has a rosier outlook:
Polls look good for Biden, but his campaign isn’t getting comfortable
In a message to supporters to be delivered on Saturday, Team Biden is stressing that the race is “far closer than some of the punditry we’re seeing on Twitter and on TV would suggest.”
The note, first reported by The New York Times, from campaign manager Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, warns supporters not to get comfortable with the good numbers showing, in some cases, a double digit lead ahead of Trump, with crucial, need-to-win swing states in the balance.
“While we see robust leads at the national level, in the states we’re counting on to carry us to victory like Arizona and North Carolina we’re only up by three points,” she said. “We also know that even the best polling can be wrong, and that variables like turnout mean that in a number of critical states we are functionally tied — and that we need to campaign like we’re trailing.”
Trump says he’s not getting enough publicity for his Nobel ‘nominations’
He told a crowd in Iowa: “Where is my Nobel Peace Prize? They don’t talk about it.”
And in Florida: "I got three Nobel Peace Prize nominations. Only one for the Middle East. Let’s see what happens.”
With the jury out for the 2020 prize, Trump suggest his nominations – from far-right European leaders – will land him a win in 2021.
Trump suggests he could win 2021 Nobel Prize and complains he hasn’t received enough publicity
Awarding organisation does not consider nominations an endorsement or ‘extended honour’
As Trump heads to Michigan, prosecutors reveal footage of far-right militia who allegedly plotted to kidnap the governor, Trump’s sparring partner
Training exercises by the far-right group that allegedly plotted to capture Gretchen Whitmer over coronavirus lockdown restrictions have emerged.
The president is heading there this afternoon, part of campaign trip that will also touch down in Wisconsin.
This week, he called her a “dictator.”
Newly released videos show Michigan militia training for Gretchen Whitmer kidnap plot
Wolverine Watchmen planned to ‘try’ Gretchen Whitmer for lockdown measures
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