Democratic presidential candidate former Vice-President Joe Biden speaks during an event with local union members in the backyard of a home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Photos / AP
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and US President Donald Trump spent today diminishing each other's credentials on the economy and understanding of the American worker as the presidential campaign entered its final, post-Labour Day stretch.
While workers live by an "American code," Biden said Trump "lives by a code of lies, greed and selfishness" as he met with labour leaders in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a key swing state.
Trump tried to put the halting economic recovery under the best light in a White House press conference where he said Biden and his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, would "destroy this country and would destroy this economy."
Labour Day typically marks the unofficial start to the autumn campaign season as candidates accelerate their activity for the final sprint to election day.
In other news, Kamala Harris becomes first VP candidate to campaign in skinny jeans & chucks.
— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) September 7, 2020
Seen here today as she arrived in Wisconsin: pic.twitter.com/08DNhdCsOR
Both campaigns reflected that urgency, as Harris and Vice-President Mike Pence each campaigned in Wisconsin, a state Trump narrowly won in 2016.
The events played out against the background of the pandemic, which has upended campaigning and pushed Biden and Harris in particular to conduct much of the traditional election activity online.
While the health of the American economy and status of workers were dominant Labour Day themes, both campaigns also focused on recent protests that have roiled Wisconsin and the rest of the nation.
Trump says Biden and Harris "should immediately apologize for the reckless anti-vaccine rhetoric." Harris said she would not trust Trump's word alone on a vaccine, but "would trust the word of public health experts." Trump has repeatedly touted ideas against scientific advice.
— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) September 7, 2020
Harris, the first Black woman on a major party presidential ticket, met privately with Jacob Blake's family at the Milwaukee airport after arriving in the state, where she spoke with Blake by phone from his hospital bed.
Pence touched on the protests during a speech in La Crosse, where he toured an energy facility.
Out on the trail, signs of the pandemic were evident.
While Pence didn't speak with a mask on, workers from the power company he toured did as they stood behind him.
“Angry old white guys for Biden” pic.twitter.com/W2nzVPEJ4b
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) September 7, 2020
Harris was careful not to stray far from blue "X" marks taped on the floor to encourage social distancing as she toured an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers training facility.
While supporters gathered outside the candidates' stops, they had minimal interaction with members of the public beyond the people invited to their events.
Harris also met with black business owners in Milwaukee, where she said her day of campaigning was focused on "the dignity of work and the dignity of human beings."
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris warned Americans this holiday weekend to be skeptical of anything President Trump says about a potential coronavirus vaccine, saying they’ll take their cues from scientists and not the presidenthttps://t.co/z4WEtNf351
— Axios (@axios) September 7, 2020
Biden spoke to a small group of labour leaders in a backyard in Lancaster, where he criticised Trump for "refusing to deal with the problems that affect ordinary people" and called for strengthening unions.
His campaign announced endorsements from the Labourers' International Union of North America, the International Union of Elevator Constructors and the National Federation of Federal Employees, collectively representing hundreds of thousands of union workers nationwide.
Later, at an AFL-CIO virtual town hall with union President Richard Trumka, Biden called Trump's alleged remarks about fallen soldiers being "losers" and "suckers" un-American and said Trump would never understand why Americans serve. Trump has denied the remarks.
Biden in PA: "He asks, what's in it for them? Does that surprise you, coming from a man who only thinks about what's in it for him? ... He'll never understand our cops, our firefighters, because he's not made of the same stuff that the people who serve this nation are made of."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 7, 2020
"He'll never understand you, he'll never understand us, he'll never understand our cops, our firefighters, because he's not made of the same stuff," Biden said.
Earlier in the day, Trump painted Biden as a leader incapable of handling the coronavirus and reviving the economy and pledged his own "undying loyalty to the American worker."
He boasted of adding more than 10 million jobs since May, without mentioning that's only about half of the jobs lost since the pandemic began. He also said the unemployment rate "plunged" to 8.4 per cent.
“They want to do nothing but fight wars so that all of those wonderful companies that make the bombs, that make the planes...stay happy,” Trump said, making no mention of his choice for defense secretary, who was an executive at Raytheon. https://t.co/DD6UMBj7Os
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) September 7, 2020
It was a sharper decline than many economists expected from the prior month, but economists broadly view the latest report as evidence that further economic improvement will be sluggish.
He alleged Biden and Democrats would "immediately collapse the economy."
The day marked Harris' first solo foray onto the campaign trail for in-person events since she became Biden's running mate nearly a month ago.
Biden himself has stepped up his campaigning over the past week, travelling to Pittsburgh and Kenosha and holding two news conferences.
Aides say to expect both Biden and Harris to increase their campaigning for the remaining weeks.
Trump launches unprecedented attack on military leadership he appointedhttps://t.co/L5vsmmeLWh
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) September 7, 2020
Polls consistently show the economy as an issue at the top of voters' minds.
A strong economy that was Trump's biggest asset for re-election has now become a potential liability, brought down by the coronavirus.
Biden says Trump has had an inadequate response to the pandemic, resulting in more loss of life and jobs than necessary.
The US economy has been steadily rebounding from its epic collapse as many businesses have reopened and rehired some laid-off employees. Yet the recovery is far from complete. Only about half the 22 million jobs that vanished in the pandemic have been recovered.
Economic inequalities also appear to have widened, with lower-income and minority workers suffering disproportionately while affluent Americans have lost fewer jobs and even benefited from rising stock and home prices.
- AP