Election 2020: Dueling realities about COVID-19 at Biden, Trump rallies

The images they present reinforce sharply different views of the danger.

With five days until Election Day, and President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden racing toward Nov. 3, nearly 80 million Americans have already cast their ballots -- an early voting record.

Thursday brought both Trump and Biden to Tampa, Florida, revealing how crucial the swing state is to both campaigns, with the contest overshadowed by coronavirus cases rising there and in every battleground state.

The president's aggressive, defensive strategy comes as polls show him trailing nationally and in battleground states key to his reelection hopes. First lady Melania Trump joined him for the first time. A Trump rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, this evening was postponed due to bad weather. Vice President Mike Pence is in Iowa and Nevada.

At his Tampa rally, Biden was expected to again brand the race as a "battle for the soul of the nation" at a drive-in event, after an earlier event in Broward County. Running mate California Sen. Kamala Harris was holding a virtual voter mobilization event with the "Divine Nine" -- historically Black fraternities and sororities-- then an evening virtual rally with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.


0

Trump campaign postpones North Carolina rally due to Zeta

The Trump campaign said it has postponed Trump’s Fayetteville, North Carolina, rally set for this evening due to "50 miles per hour winds and other weather conditions” related to tropical storm Zeta.

The rally was set to start at 6:30 p.m.

The campaign said it will reschedule the rally for Monday.

-ABC News' Will Steakin


At dueling Trump and Biden rallies, dueling realities about COVID-19

At a crowded rally in Tampa this afternoon, Trump painted Biden as a candidate who will "destroy the Florida tourism industry and lock down our entire country" -- though Biden argued the opposite campaigning at a drive-in rally down the I-4 corridor in Florida, a state where COVID-19 cases are rising.

After touting the latest GDP economic growth report and once again insisting the country is "rounding the turn," Trump dug into the crowd sizes Biden attracts at his events.

"They say the fact that he has nobody at all show up is because COVID? No, it's because nobody shows up. And I think that's the ultimate poll and based on the numbers we are getting, we're going to do really well on Tuesday," Trump said, touting the size of the crowds at his events.

Without giving specifics, Trump said that he would win a record share of the Latino vote and claimed “Biden's agenda will devastate the Hispanic-American community.”

Speaking to voters in Broward County at a drive-in rally, Biden continued to differentiate his campaign from Trump’s mostly maskless, packed rallies, kicking off his remarks by thanking supporters for wearing masks and social distancing, before slamming Trump’s rallies -- like his dueling one in Tampa -- as "superspreader events."

"Millions of people out there are out of work, on the edge, can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, and Donald Trump has given up," Biden said, pitching himself as the unity candidate. “He’s spreading more virus around the country and here in Florida today. He's spreading division, in addition, division and discord."

While Trump argued the future of American holidays is uncertain under Biden, the former vice president repeated what’s become a new mantra: that he will not shut down the economy or the country, even as he says, "I am going to shut down the virus."

As both campaigns vie for the Latino vote, Biden appealed to Cuban voters specifically, arguing that the country needs a new Cuba policy and that Trump has "embraced so many autocrats around the world."

There were 201 cars at Biden’s drive-in rally outside Broward College, while Trump’s rally outside Raymond James Stadium saw thousands of supporters packed shoulder-to-shoulder.

-ABC News' Adia Robinson contributed to this report.


COVID-19 election battleground state tracker

As the country enters what many scientists are calling a new wave of the coronavirus pandemic and the presidential candidates make their final pitches to voters in battleground states, here’s today’s update of the COVID-19 situation in 13 states ABC News rates as competitive for the presidential election (either toss-ups, leaning Democrat or leaning Republican).

Eight battleground states -- Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin -- are experiencing a rise in all three metrics: cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

Rate of positivity

  • Increased in 12 states: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin
  • Decreased in one state: New Hampshire 
  • Current hospitalizations

  • Increased in ten states: Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin
  • Flat in three states: Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada
  • Daily deaths

  • Increasing in eight states: Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin 
  • Decreasing in four states: Arizona, Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada
  • Flat in one state: Georgia
  • -ABC News' Soorin Kim, Arielle Mitropoulos, Ben Bell and Brian Hartman


    Election officials warn Trump's Tampa rally may cause traffic delays for early voters

    Trump's rally in Tampa on Thursday may cause traffic delays which could lead to longer wait times for potential early voters, Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Office warned in a statement.

    The president's rally is set to be held in a parking lot at Raymond James Stadium, which is also being used as an early voting site in Hillsborough County.

    The Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections office said the event "could cause traffic delays" on Thursday for those looking to vote and the office reminded voters that there are 26 early voting sites available around the county.

    The elections office also pointed out that while "electioneering" is not allowed within 150 feet of an early voting site, they say the "rally and campaigners will be outside of this zone" and that the Supervisor of Elections Office "cannot prohibit campaign activities outside this '"no solicitation zone.'"

    The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

    -ABC News' Will Steakin


    Overview: Trump, Biden hold dueling rallies in battleground Florida

    Even as markets plunge and a new surge in coronavirus cases sweeps the country -- with some states imposing new restrictions -- Trump continues to close his reelection campaign by urging largely maskless crowds of supporters to dismiss the evidence -- insisting the nation is "rounding the turn" on the pandemic -- and to take his word that the economy is swiftly recovering.

    The president is expected to continue that message today with campaign rallies in Florida and North Carolina -- states he won in 2016 -- seeking to defend his electoral map to a potential win. For the first time in the 2020 cycle, first lady Melania Trump will join her husband on the trail, attempting to bring an appeal to suburban women, a demographic Trump is struggling with.

    He's also expected to tout the gross domestic product (GDP) report out this morning showing the economy grew at an annual rate of 33.1% during the third quarter -- the largest ever quarterly growth in data -- but this figure comes on the heels of the biggest drop ever when the economy shrank 31.4% as the country shut down.

    Like the president, Biden is also in the Sunshine State vying for Florida’s 29 electoral votes -- hosting drive-in rallies in Broward County and Tampa.

    The two will appear just hours apart in Tampa, near the western end of the I-4 corridor -- the interstate that cuts through the middle of Florida from Dayton Beach through Orlando and down to St. Petersburg -- that's thought to be a bellwether region in the swing state. It's the first time both candidates have actively campaigned in the same state on the same day in the presidential race.

    Biden's has framed his closing argument to voters on responsible pandemic management, acknowledging to voters Wednesday that even if he’s elected, the path to normal won’t be like "flipping a switch." He has also hammered his plan for a national strategy to beat the virus and tried to set an example by wearing a mask and holding drive-in rallies to maintain social distancing.

    The former vice president heads later this week to three more states Trump won in 2016 -- Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan -- where he’ll hold a drive-in rally Saturday with former President Barack Obama, their first joint appearance of 2020.

    Biden’s running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris will participate in a virtual voter mobilization event with the Divine Nine -- known formally as the National Pan-Hellenic Council and consisting of nine historically Black fraternities and sororities, including Alpha Kappa Alpha which Harris joined at Howard University. In the evening, she has a virtual rally with another former Democratic primary opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. as the ticket makes its final pitch to more progressive voters.

    Pence speaks at campaign rallies in Des Moines, Iowa, and Reno, Nevada -- a state which Hillary Clinton won by only 2.5 points in 2016 as Republicans seek to maintain their map and potentially pick up the Copper State.