ZCZC
BFF-38
US-POLITICS-VOTE-100DAYS
100 days ahead of vote, faltering Trump banks on ‘silent majority’
WASHINGTON, July 26, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – President Donald Trump
mounted a strident defense Sunday of his wavering reelection bid with
100 days to go in a campaign that has seen him underwater in the polls
— and banking on the “silent majority” he says will bring him
victory.
The 74-year-old Republican has struggled with setbacks on numerous
fronts, facing mounting criticism over his handling of the coronavirus
outbreak and the resulting economic pain, and failing to land punches
on his opponent, Joe Biden.
In the latest blow to his hopes to be returned to the White House on
November 3, polls released Sunday showed his support catering in three
critical battleground states.
“The Trump Campaign has more ENTHUSIASM, according to many, than any
campaign in the history of our great Country – Even more than 2016,”
Trump thundered on Twitter.
“Biden has NONE! The Silent Majority will speak on NOVEMBER THIRD!!!
Fake Suppression Polls & Fake News will not save the Radical Left.”
Trump’s 77-year-old Democratic rival Biden, who says he is fighting
for “the soul of America,” marked the milestone with a tweet saying,
simply: “100 days.”
With the coronavirus killing more than 1,000 Americans a day, the
president, who is at his best soaking up the adulation of supporters
at live events, has been forced to cancel his rallies and ditch the
Republican convention in Florida next month.
– Shortcomings –
The pandemic, which has infected 4.1 million Americans and killed
almost 150,000, is ravaging the US economy and — with the outbreak
largely under control in Europe — has highlighted the shortcomings of
the US response.
The president has also lost support over his handling of historic
uprisings against racism and police brutality, angering local leaders
with incendiary rhetoric and a pledge to “surge” federal agents into
numerous major US cities.
MORE/MRU/2258
ZCZC
BFF-39
US-POLITICS-VOTE-100DAYS-TWO LAST
That all is not well in Team Trump’s misfiring reelection bid was
perhaps most evident in the president’s recent demotion of bravado
campaign manager Brad Parscale.
With overall approval ratings permanently stuck in the low 40
percent range, he is the first president to seek reelection after
impeachment.
Trump is offering a vision of chaos under his opponent, in which
Biden’s desire to “abolish the American Way of Life” would turn US
cities into crime-infested wastelands.
But he has largely failed to expand his fervently loyal base with a
pitch that boils down to claiming Biden will have Americans “cowering
to radical left-wing mobs.”
New polling of registered voters from three swing states released
Sunday showed Trump trailing badly.
In Florida, the president garnered 46 percent support against 51
percent for Biden while in Arizona, the challenger was four points
ahead, with 49 percent.
– ‘Divisiveness and dysfunction’ –
In Michigan, Biden’s lead stands at 52 percent to 40 percent — a
larger lead than the RealClearPolitics average of recent national
polls, which puts the former vice president ahead by 8.7 points.
Trump carried all three states in 2016, although he won Michigan by
fewer than 11,000 votes.
Meanwhile, Biden is running an unprecedented campaign from his
Delaware home, with no rallies, few news conferences and the space to
sit back and watch Trump lurch ever deeper into trouble.
But the president is keen to remind those who discount him that,
with grim polling in 2016, he comfortably beat all comers for the
nomination before defeating Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
Maryland’s Republican governor Larry Hogan, who didn’t vote for
Trump in 2016 and is seen as a potential candidate in 2024, told CNN
on Sunday he was unlikely to endorse the president this time around.
“The election is 100 days away. I think early voting starts in 60
days or less. We’re getting very close for the American people to make
that decision,” he said.
“I think, quite frankly, a lot of people like me are frustrated with
the divisiveness and dysfunction on both sides and don’t feel like we
have two great choices.”
BSS/AFP/MRU/2258hrs