Trump votes early in Florida as Obama urges voters to support a "normal president"
Former President Barack Obama has hit the campaign trail for the second time in days, this time in Donald Trump’s adopted home state of Florida, where he urged voters to get behind a "normal president" to lead the country "out of these dark times."
Hours after Trump voted at a polling station near his Mar-a-Largo resort - joining more than 54 million Americans who have cast early ballots - Obama appeared at a drive-in rally in Miami, in a sign of how much the race has tightened in the critical US battleground.
Former President Barack Obama speaks as he campaigns for Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden at Florida International University.Credit:Lynne Sladky
Addressing a crowd of supporters in Miami Dade, which has a high population of Latino and black voters, Obama delivered an incendiary speech framing Trump as weak, a conspiracy theorist, and an embarrassment to the country.
He also urged people to throw their support behind Joe Biden and Kamala Harrris in a bid to restore a sense of normalcy to America.
“It won't be so exhausting, just having a normal president,” he told the crowd, who were scattered across the outdoor venue or sitting in their cars with their windows open.
“You’ll be able to just go about your lives knowing that the president is not going to suggest injecting bleach (as a cure for coronavirus ) or retweet conspiracy theories about cabals running the world.”
President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign rally at Robeson County Fairgrounds.Credit:
“Donald Trump isn't going to suddenly protect all of us - he can't even take the basic steps to protect himself.”
Obama’s comments come days after he joined the campaign trail in Pennsylvania - another critical battleground that could decide the fate of the November 3 poll.
But, shortly after he finished the speech, Trump tweeted out in response: “Nobody is showing up for Obama’s hate laced speeches. 47 people! No energy, but still better than Joe!”
Earlier, the president had cast his ballot at a library in West Palm Beach, before hitting the campaign trail for rallies in three swing states on Saturday, joining more than 54 million Americans who have cast early ballots at a record-setting pace ahead of the November 3 election.
"I voted for a guy named Trump," he told reporters after voting.
Democratic rival Joe Biden also hit the campaign trail on Saturday, speaking at a drive-in rally of supporters in the battleground state of Pennsylvania where he warned of a looming "dark winter" unless the Trump administration does not do a better job at fighting the coronavirus.
"It's going to be a dark winter ahead unless we change our ways," he said of Trump's attempts to contain the coronavirus, which has killed more people in the United State than any other country.
With 10 days to go in the campaign, about 54.2 million Americans have already cast early ballots, a pace that could lead to the highest voter turnout in more than a century, according to data from the US Elections Project.
Florida voted in favour of Obama twice, but Trump believes he is likely to win the state this year, partly off the back of its Latino electorate, many of whom support the president's pro-business policies and anti-socialist rhetoric.
Whoever wins the state will pick up a large block of 29 Electoral College votes. Current polls have Trump and Biden almost neck-and-neck.
with Reuters
Farrah Tomazin is a senior journalist covering the 2020 US presidential election.