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Upbeat Trump hits the trail, Biden tries debate cleanup

THE VILLAGES, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump and his allies fought for support in pivotal battleground states on Friday after a debate performance that gave new hope to anxious Republicans. Democrat Joe Biden, campaigning close to home, tried to clean up a debate misstep while urging voters to stay focused on the president’s inability to control the worsening pandemic.

The surge of activity with just 11 days remaining in the 2020 contest highlighted the candidates’ divergent strategies, styles and policy prescriptions that are shaping the campaign’s closing days. Nearly 50 million votes have already been cast, with an additional 100 million or so expected before a winner is declared.

The coronavirus debate has pushed Trump onto the defensive for much of the fall, but for the moment it is Biden’s team that has been forced to explain itself. In the final minutes of Thursday night’s debate, the former vice president said he supports a “transition” away from oil in the U.S. in favor of renewable energy. The campaign released a statement hours later declaring that he would phase out taxpayer subsidies for fossil fuel companies, not the industry altogether.

Biden also dispatched running mate Kamala Harris to help clarify his position as she campaigned in swing state Georgia.

“Let’s be really clear about this: Joe Biden is not going to ban fracking,” Harris said. “He is going to deal with the oil subsidies. You know, the president likes to take everything out of context. But let’s be clear, what Joe was talking about was banning subsidies, but he will not ban fracking in America.”

Biden said the same after the debate, but he did not address his energy policy in his Friday speech.

Trump repeatedly raised the issue at a rally at The Villages, a sprawling retirement community in Florida, where thousands of people gathered outdoors on a polo field. Most did not wear masks.

“That could be one of the biggest mistakes made in presidential debate history,” Trump gloated.

But he also fired his own insult at the California senator that pointed to her gender and was quickly stirring criticism.

“Kamala will not be your first female president,” Trump declared. “Look, we’re not going to be a socialist nation. We’re not going to have a socialist president, especially any female socialist president.”

As for Biden and oil, while ending the nation’s reliance on fossil fuel is popular among many liberals, the idea could hurt him among working-class voters in swing states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Texas who depend on the industry, and fracking in particular, to make a living.

Trump’s allies immediately began running new attack ads seizing on the Democrats’ inconsistent answers on energy. One ad unveiled Friday calls Biden and Harris “fracking liars.” Another claims Biden’s plans could cost up to 600,000 jobs in Pennsylvania alone.

In Florida, Trump’s fate is likely tied to his leadership on the pandemic. Trying to repair his diminished standing among older Americans on that subject, he made several over-the-top claims to his retirement community crowd, painting Biden as the one who would harm them. Biden’s election, the president said, “would mean that America’s seniors have no air conditioning during the summer, no heat during the winter and no electricity during peak hours.”

Both campaigns predictably claimed a boost from the televised debate that drew an audience of tens of millions. But with roughly one-third of expected ballots already cast through early voting, it is unclear how much the faceoff could alter the course of the campaign.

The pandemic was a major focus of Thursday’s debate and it was the sole focus of Biden’s only public appearance on Friday close to his home in Delaware, which is hardly a swing state.

During the debate, Trump rosily predicted that the pandemic, which is escalating in several states, will “go away.” Biden countered that the nation was headed toward “a dark winter.” The former vice president reiterated that theme Friday in Wilmington as he outlined his plans.

Biden vowed to work with Congress to enact a new economic relief package for hard pressed individuals, businesses and states by the end of January after seeking input from Republican and Democratic governors. He also promised to encourage state leaders to implement mask mandates. Should they refuse, Biden said he would lean on municipal leaders to require universal mask wearing in their communities.

“We’re more than eight months into this crisis, the president still doesn’t have a plan. He’s given up,” Biden charged. “I’m not going to shut down the country. I’m going to shut down the virus.”

Though U.S. cases are soaring and deaths are nearing 224,000, Trump insisted that Biden was being too pessimistic .

“We’re not entering a dark winter,” he said. “We’re entering the final turn and approaching the light at the end of the tunnel. That’s how I look at it.”

Even in the closing days of the race, the Democrat has maintained a cautious campaign schedule, citing the pandemic, while Trump has been a much more aggressive traveler. With Biden briefly appearing in Delaware, Trump was leading a pair of rallies in battleground Florida before casting an early ballot on Saturday in his adopted home state.

He said he would be campaigning non-stop until Election Day with as many as five or six rallies in the race’s final day.

“Can you believe it?” he said. “Do you think Sleepy Joe can do that? I don’t think so.”

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