LATROBE, Pa. — Former President Donald Trump predicted on Tuesday that America would collapse if his fellow Republicans did not pull off a massive electoral wave. Democrats, led by President Joe Biden and two other former presidents, are warning that abortion rights, Social Security and even democracy itself are at risk.
Three of the six living presidents delivered strong closing statements Saturday in the battleground state of Pennsylvania for the final weekend of the 2022 midterm elections, but their words reverberated across the country as millions of Americans voted to determine the balance of power in Washington and key state capitals. . Polls across America close on Tuesday, but more than 39 million people have already cast ballots.
On Sunday, Biden will campaign in the suburbs of New York, while Trump will travel to Florida.
“If you want to stop the destruction of our country and save the American dream, you need to vote Republican in a big red wave on Tuesday,” Trump told thousands of supporters during a campaign rally in western Pennsylvania on Saturday. “A land of amusement.”
Earlier in the day, Biden shared the stage in Philadelphia with former President Barack Obama, former campaign partners for the first time since taking office. In neighboring New York, even former President Bill Clinton has stayed out of national politics in recent years, defending his party.
Obama charged: “Swimming and sweeping is no longer an option.” “On Tuesday, come on, our country won’t go back 50 years.”
Not everyone reported when the weekend started.
Before arriving in Pennsylvania, Biden faced new political turmoil, upsetting some in his own party for promoting a plan to shut down fossil fuel plants in favor of green energy. While he was commenting in California the day before, the fossil fuel industry is a major employer in Pennsylvania.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said the president owes coal workers across the country an apology. He called Biden’s comments “vulgar and disgusting.”
Trump attacked a reef in western Pennsylvania and accused Biden of “restarting the war on your coal, coal.”
According to the White House, Biden’s remarks were “twisted to convey an unintended meaning; if anyone is offended by these words” and regrets that he is “commenting on a fact of economics and technology”.
Democrats are deeply concerned about narrow majorities in the House and Senate as voters resent Biden’s leadership amid rising inflation, crime and widespread pessimism about the country’s direction. History shows that the Democrats, as the party in power, will suffer significant losses in the midterms.
While campaigning in Pennsylvania, Trump looked ahead to Florida, slamming the state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis. After showing the latest presidential poll numbers on the big screens, Trump called DeSantis, his 2024 GOP challenger, “Ron DeSantimonius.”
Trump’s weekend trips were part of an evening blitz that would take him to Ohio. He hopes Tuesday’s strong GOP showing will provide momentum for the 2024 election, which begins days or weeks after polls close.
On Saturday, Trump repeatedly falsely claimed that Democrats lost the 2020 election only because of cheating, while raising the possibility of election fraud next week. The rhetoric has prompted federal intelligence agencies to warn of possible political violence by far-right extremists in the coming days.
“Everybody, I promise you, in the very, very, very short term, you’re going to be happy,” Trump said of another White House proposal. “But first we need to achieve a historic victory for Republicans on November 8.”
Biden’s address in Pennsylvania was largely what he has been saying for weeks — focusing on his key legislative achievements and warning that abortion rights, voting rights, Social Security and Medicare are at risk if Republicans take control of Congress.
The president highlighted the Cut-Inflation Act passed by the Democratic-led Congress in August, which includes several health care provisions popular with seniors and the poor, including $2,000 in out-of-pocket medical expenses and $35. Monthly limit for one prescription for insulin. The new law also requires companies that raise prices faster than general inflation to pay rebates to Medicare.
But with a larger and more energetic audience in his home state, Biden’s energy seems to be up.
Biden said about the threats to democracy: “We need to reaffirm the values that have defined us for a long time. “We are good people. I know that.”
He added: “Get out and vote!”
Story by Steve Pales, Aamer Madhani and Marc Levy.
