Donald Trump has continued to cause controversy as he ramped up his campaign tour with constant rallies across America’s west – but cracks are showing on both sides.
The Democrats have been warned the election will go down to the wire, despite Joe Biden enjoying a major polling lead, as the campaign continues to mirror the failed 2016 bid by Hilary Clinton.
The two candidates will debate for a final time on Thursday in Nashville, Tennessee, after their second face-off was cancelled in favour of simultaneous town hall events.
Trump has an aggressive schedule planned despite figures showing he raked in £135 million less than the $383 million Biden raised in September to support his efforts.
A California fundraiser over the weekend did, however, see backing from the Beach Boys who performed in Newport Beach.
Perhaps Trump will swap in one of their tracks to replace his go-to YMCA by The Village People at future rallies.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Trump claims Biden wants to cancel Christmas
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Trump bizarrely claimed that Biden – a practicing Catholic – wants to cancel Christmas if he becomes President.
The Republican leader told a crowd in Nevada: “Under the Biden lockdown, the lights of Reno were extinguished. Carson City will become a ghost town.
“If he comes in, Carson City will become a ghost town and the Christmas season will be cancelled.
“Remember I said we’re going to bring back Christmas, right, the name? We brought it back, remember? I used to go around and say – you know because I saw these big department stores [being] politically correct – so they say ‘have a great season.’
“I said no, I don’t want to have a great season, I want to say ‘Merry Christmas!'”
Trump hands over wad of $20s to church collection
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The president, who rarely goes to church but has remained popular among evangelical Christians for his opposition to abortion and for appointing conservative judges, began Sunday by attending a service at the International Church of Las Vegas.
He didn’t wear a mask for the indoor service.
One of the church’s pastors, Denise Goulet, said to Trump from the stage that God had told her he would win the 2020 election.
Trump counted out a few $20 bills from a wad he then returned into his pocket and put them in a collection bucket.
Trump claims US pandemic has ‘turned corner’
(Image: REUTERS)
Biden criticised Trump for saying over the weekend that the US had “turned the corner” in the coronavirus pandemic, noting that the rate of new cases across the country had risen to the highest level in months.
“Things are getting worse, and he continues to lie to us about circumstances,” the Democrat warned.
“Listen to the scientists!” Trump said in a mocking voice during a packed outdoor rally at Carson City airport.
“If I listened totally to the scientists, we would right now have a country that would be in a massive depression.”
Biden camp admits huge poll lead could be wrong
(Image: REUTERS)
A leaked internal memo from within the Democratic campaign has warned against complacency, reminding Biden’s staff that Hilary Clinton also boasted a major lead with just over two weeks to go.
“We cannot become complacent because the very searing truth is that Donald Trump can still win this race and every indication we have shows that this thing is going to come down to the wire,” Jen O’Malley Dillon, Biden’s campaign manager, wrote.
“We also know that even the best polling can be wrong, and that variables like turnout mean that in a number of critical states we are functionally tied — and that we need to campaign like we’re trailing.”
The fear is reportedly very real among some senior Democrats that another election could be blown.
Biden continues to target elderly for votes
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The Democrat’s most-aired advert in the past week was one aimed at senior citizens, featuring worried-looking older people, and Biden’s reassuring voiceover.
“Our seniors that are being hit the hardest are frightened,” he said.
“I want them to know that their health and safety will be my responsibility.
“If I’m your president, I’ll have from day one ready to go the best medical experts and scientists to advise on our response.”
Trump has repeatedly mocked 77-year-old Biden’s age, nicknaming him ‘Sleepy Joe’, despite being just three years his junior.
The President even tweeted a photoshopped picture of his rival in a retirement home.
Trump’s senior adviser ‘calls for major campaign reassessment’
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On Thursday, Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, called a meeting at the White House to reassess their campaign, The Washington Post reported.
Mr Kushner was trying to settle heated debates on where to spend the remainder of the campaign’s funds, with Biden having significantly out-raised his opponent.
There are reports of a split between the national party – which wants to help Republican Senate candidates – and the president’s own team.
Trump’s 2016 campaign was out-raised by Hilary Clinton but the Republican’s strategy, including targeted online ads – helped see him to victory.
Election drive sees record-shattering registration figures
(Image: Zuma Press/PA Images)
Some 27.9 million Americans have already cast ballots either by mail or in person ahead of the 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.
At a rally in Nevada, a state where voting started on Saturday, Trump told attendees: “Early voting is under way, so get out and vote.”
In North Carolina, a battleground where 1.4 million, or 20%, of the state’s registered voters had already voted as of Sunday morning, Biden asked people to cast ballots as soon as possible.
The race is neck and neck in the state, which Trump won by 3.66 percentage points in 2016.
