[NFA] President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden traded barbs on Monday and exhorted last-minute voters to turn out as they stumped in battleground states on the final day of a polarizing campaign that has shattered early voting records.
Lisa Bernhard produced this report.
DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE JOE BIDEN: "Ohio - one more day!
One more day!" PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: "Tomorrow we are going to win this state and we're going to win four more years!" With a divided country on edge on the final day of the campaign, President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden traded barbs and implored last-minute voters to turn out as they stumped in key battleground states.
In Cleveland, Ohio - a state once seen as a lock for Trump - Biden returned to the themes that have enlivened his campaign, vowing to heal the nation's wounds while attacking Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
"It's time for Donald Trump to pack his bags and go home.
We're done!
We're done with the chaos, we're done with the tweets, the anger, the hate, the failure, the irresponsibility…." Biden also responded sharply to Trump saying he'd fire top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, a key member of the White House coronavirus task force, after being egged on by supporters at a Florida rally the night before.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: "Don't tell anybody, but let me wait until a little bit after the election…" DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE JOE BIDEN: "I got a better idea: Elect me and I'm gonna hire Dr. Fauci, and we're gonna fire Donald Trump!" Former President Barack Obama, campaigning for his former Vice President in Georgia, also blasted what he called Trump's 'closing argument' in his bid for re-election - to fire Fauci in the middle of a pandemic that, nine months in, is raging out of control.
"His second term plan is to fire that guy.
So Georgia, if you think they've done a bad job at managing the pandemic so far, basically what they're telling you is, 'You ain't seen nothin' yet.'" PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: "We have five of these today, five…" Trump, meanwhile, had five planned rallies on Monday in four different battleground states, including Pennsylvania, where he described the state's plan to count ballots for up to three days after the election as a (quote), "physically dangerous" situation - and delivered a menacing message to the Pennsylvania governor.
"Governor, please don't cheat.
Because we're all watching.
We're all watching you, Governor.
We've got a lot of, we have a lot of eyes on the governor and his friends." Trump is seeking to avoid becoming the first incumbent president to lose re-election since fellow Republican George H.W.
Bush in 1992.
Despite national polls showing Biden with a broad lead, the race in swing states is seen as close enough that Trump could still piece together the 270 electoral college votes needed to win a second term in the White House.
