WASHINGTON: The Latest on the presidential campaign (all times local):
2:20 p.m.
Joe Biden will join forces with his old boss, former President Barack Obama, for a rally in Michigan on Saturday.
The Biden campaign announced the rally on Wednesday but hasnt said where it will be held. Metro Detroit is the Democratic base of the state, with a prominent Black population in the city along with growing nonwhite populations. Democrats also made gains among suburban white voters in the 2018 midterms.
President Donald Trump won Michigan by just under 11,000 votes four years ago, making it his closest margin of victory in any state. He won the state through key gains across southwest Michigan in communities where Obama won or lost narrowly. Democratic support in and around Detroit also fell off from 2012 levels when Obama was reelected.
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HERES WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE:
The presidential campaign shifts west as President Donald Trump visits an Arizona town across the Colorado River from Nevada. Democrat Joe Biden gave remarks on the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday before he and his wife, Jill, went to cast their ballots.
Read more:
We need you: GOP hunts for new voters in Trump territory
Anxiety 2020: Voters worry about safety at the polls
Biden faces challenges in quickly combating the pandemic
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON:
1:50 p.m.
Joe Biden is denouncing violence that occurred in some protests in response to the police shooting of Walter Wallace, Jr. in Philadelphia and promising to study ways to prevent such shootings if elected president.
Speaking to reporters in Wilmington, Delaware after voting on Wednesday, Biden said that there is no excuse whatsoever for the looting and the violence thats broken out in Philadelphia in response to the shooting, but he said protesting overall is totally legitimate.
Wallace, 27, a Black man, was fatally shot by police Monday after authorities say he ignored orders to drop a knife. But his familys lawyer said the family had called for an ambulance to get him help with a mental health crisis. The shooting set off two days of protests, and some demonstrators threw debris at officers, injuring two, according to police.
Biden said hell be setting up a commission if elected president to study how you diminish the prospect of lethal shootings in circumstances like the one we saw. Bidens criminal justice plan would increase oversight of police departments and offer funds to support police reforms at the local level.
Biden offered the comments after voting early at a government building in downtown Wilmington. Delaware allows residents to vote early by appointment, and he and wife Jill voted together.
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12:50 p.m.
Joe Biden says Omaha supporters of President Donald Trump who were left in the cold after Trumps rally is an image that captured President Trumps whole approach to the health crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
In remarks Wednesday, Biden referred to reports that thousands of people who attended Trumps campaign rally at a Nebraska airport Tuesday night had to wait around in frigid weather for hours after it ended before they could get back to their cars.
Police later said about six or seven of them were taken to hospitals from the airport grounds due to a variety of medical conditions.
Most rallygoers had parked in lots a mile or two from the airport and were shuttled into the 7:30 p.m. event on buses. Shuttle buses were unable to return to the airport as traffic snarled and hundreds of people wandered into the streets around the airport as they tried to walk to their cars.
Police tried to clear traffic and respond to medical emergencies including some people who suffered adverse effects from the cold weather, around 30 degrees.
Trump deputy national press secretary Samantha Zager said Wednesday that because of the size of the crowd 40 shuttle buses were deployed instead of the normal 15. But she says local road closures and resulting congestion caused delays.
Zager said the campaign had tents, heaters, generators, hot cocoa, and handwarmers available for guests. She added, We always strive to provide the best guest experience at our events and we care about their safety.
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11:55 a.m.
Six days out from Election Day, Joe Biden isnt campaigning in a swing state. Instead, hes receiving a briefing from public health experts on the coronavirus as cases surge nationwide.
Biden was briefed virtually at a theater in Wilmington, Delaware, on Wednesday by former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Center for Science in the Public Interest director Dr. David Kessler, New York University medical school assistant professor Dr. Celine Grounder and Yale University associate professor of medicine Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith.
The Democrat sat on a stage with briefing materials before him in front of a screen with graphs showing the seven-day rolling average of reported daily COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations over the past four months.
Kessler warned Biden, We are in the midst of the third wave.
Data compiled by Johns Hopkins shows more than 226,000 people have died from the virus in the U.S. More than 71,000 people a day are testing positive on average, up from 51,000 two weeks ago. Cases are on the rise in all but two states, Hawaii and Delaware.
Biden has made the coronavirus the central focus of his campaign against President Donald Trump, who has insisted were rounding the turn, were doing great. Biden has sought to draw a contrast with the Republican president on how hed handle the pandemic.
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