US election wrap Oct 19: Trump and Biden ramp up campaigning efforts in battleground states

According to Reuters, approximately “27.9 million Americans have already cast ballots either by mail or in person ahead of the Nov. 3 election, according to the U.S. Elections Project at the University of Florida. The record-shattering figure is being driven in part by concerns about crowds at polling sites on Election Day during the coronavirus pandemic.” Read the report here

The coronavirus pandemic and the Trump administration of the handling of it has been one of the most important talking points during these elections because they haven’t left any aspect of American life untouched. This past weekend, both candidates have campaigned hard in states they are hoping to influence in a last-ditch effort to win the presidency. The Associated Press reported that Trump drew thousands of supporters in Nevada, where most did not wear masks, and booed Biden after Trump claimed that his opponent would impose harsh lockdowns for coronavirus if Biden won the presidency.

“He’ll listen to the scientists. If I listened totally to the scientists, we would right now have a country that would be in a massive depression,” Trump said, according to an AP report. In contrast, Biden who was campaigning in North Carolina, chose to focus on the need for criminal justice reform to tackle institutional racism and to build wealth for the Black community. Read the Associated Press report here

With both presidential candidates forcefully campaigning over the past few days, the AP has drawn up a list to fact-check all of the claims Trump and Biden have made, on issues ranging from taxes and the US economy, coronavirus, Hunter Biden’s controversy to election fraud among a wide range of topics that were brought up. Read the AP report here

US elections 2020 | How Trump vs Biden affects the world

After Trump egged his supporters to chat “lock her up” for Michigan’s Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Sunday, the Michigan state head said that Trump was inciting “domestic terrorism”. Trump had criticised Witmer’s policies to curb coronavirus and has said she should open up the state more. Several Republicans have defended Trump for his conduct and said the president was only “having fun,” the AP reported. Read it here

The spread of disinformation is still a big concern among many in the US in the last few days before the elections end. At the center of it all is the QAnon conspiracy theory, that among other claims, says that “Trump is waging a secret war against elite Satan-worshipping paedophiles in government, business and the media.” The BBC has a detailed story on how there are millions of Americans who are getting a completely different set of inaccurate information based on these conspiracy theories and are convinced that all of it is true. It isn’t something to be dismissed, the BBC says, because it will impact voting patterns and ultimately, the outcome of the election. Read the BBC story here