Official White House Photo by Tia DufourBY: LIBBY CATHEY AND EMILY SHAPIRO, ABC NEWS
(NEW YORK) — With 10 days to go until Election Day, and President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden racing toward Nov. 3, voters have turned out in record numbers to cast their ballots early.
More than 54 million Americans have already voted in the 2020 election, reflecting an extraordinary level of participation and interest despite unprecedented barriers brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
In the final weeks of campaigning, the president has remained on defense as polls show him trailing nationally and in several battleground states key to his reelection hopes. He has three rallies across battleground states Saturday — in North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin.
Biden, maintaining a lead in national polls — his largest of the election, according to FiveThirtyEight’s average — has deployed his top surrogate, former President Barack Obama, to stump for him in Miami Saturday.
Polls indicate a huge pre-Election-Day edge for Biden and a sizable Trump advantage among those who plan to vote on Nov. 3. Trump has sowed doubt in the mail-in ballot process — and imminent election results — for months.
All 50 states plus Washington, D.C., have some form of early voting underway. Check out FiveThirtyEight’s guide to voting during the COVID-19 pandemic here.
Latest headlines:
- Trump says COVID-19 cases are up ‘because we test’
- Biden says Trump ‘cares more about the stock market than he does you’
- Trump votes early in Florida
Here’s how the news is developing today. All times Eastern.
Oct 24, 4:52 pm
Trump on the election: ‘Nothing worries me’
As President Donald Trump arrived in Ohio for his second campaign rally of the day, he told reporters “nothing worries me” about the election.
“I think we’re doing just very well, you look at the numbers in Florida. We’re way ahead where we were four years ago, right? Way ahead where we were four years ago and I think I can say that everywhere else,” the president said.
Trump said he voted “straight Republican” when he went to vote early in Florida Saturday morning.
-ABC News’ Elizabeth Thomas
Oct 24, 3:40 pm
Obama slams Trump: ‘He hasn’t shown any interest in doing the work’
Former President Barack Obama campaigned in Miami Saturday at a drive-in rally for his former vice president, Joe Biden.
“Donald Trump, I knew he would not embrace my vision. I knew he wasn’t going to continue my policies. But I did hope that for the country’s sake, he’d show at least a little bit of interest in taking the job seriously,” Obama said.
“He hasn’t shown any interest in doing the work,” Obama said, and he accused Trump of “treating the presidency like a reality show.”
“The rest of us have to live with the consequences of what he’s done. At least 220,000 Americans are dead. More than 100,000 small businesses have closed. Half a million jobs are gone right here in Florida,” Obama said. “You think he’s hard at work coming up with a plan to get us out of this mess?”
Obama said Biden as vice president “was the last one in the room whenever I faced a big decision. He made me a better president. He’s got the character and experience to make us a better country,” Obama said. “That’s what you need right now — somebody who cares about you and is thinking about you.”
Oct 24, 3:14 pm
Trump says COVID-19 cases are up ‘because we test’
In response to former Vice President Joe Biden, who warned of a “dark winter” due to the pandemic, President Donald Trump said Saturday, “we gotta have spirit.”
The U.S. on Friday saw its highest daily number of COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began. “If we tested half cases would be half,” the president argued, despite the fact that cases would still exist even if undetected.
Trump expressed his exhaustion with hearing about COVID-19 cases, repeating the word “COVID” 10 times in a matter of seconds, mocking the coverage of the pandemic.
“That’s all I hear about now. That’s all I hear … COVID COVID COVID COVID COVID COVID, a plane goes down, 500 people that they don’t talk about it. COVID COVID COVID COVID, by the way, on November 4 you won’t hear about it anymore,” he said to his roughly few thousand supporters gathered in the sun not socially distanced. Not many wore masks even though some people had masks dangling from their necks.
The presidential race is in a dead-heat contest in North Carolina, where Biden has 49% support among likely voters in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll in the state, while Trump has 48% support.
Trump narrowly won North Carolina in 2016.
-ABC News’ Will Steakin
Oct 24, 1:51 pm
Trump says COVID-19 cases are up ‘because we test’
President Donald Trump addressed supporters in Lumberton, North Carolina, where he attacked North Carolina’s Democratic governor, Roy Cooper.
“Get your governor to open up your state,” Trump said. “This guy should be defeated.”
In response to former Vice President Joe Biden, who warned of a “dark winter” due to the pandemic, Trump said Saturday, “we gotta have spirit.”
“I had it — here I am!” he said.
Trump said children with COVID-19 have “a very strong immune system” and kids should “go back to school in North Carolina.” Trump said “seconds” after being told his 14-year-old son, Barron, tested positive for COVID-19, he was told that the teenager “no longer has it.”
The president said “cases are up in the United States — that’s because we test.” The U.S. on Friday saw its highest daily number of COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began. “If we tested half cases would be half,” the president argued.
The roughly few thousand supporters gathered in the sun were not socially distanced. Not many wore masks even though some people had masks dangling from their necks.
North Carolina’s presidential race is in a dead-heat contest in a state that’s backed Democratic presidential candidates just twice in the last half century.
Biden has 49% support among likely voters in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll in the state, while Trump has 48% support.
Trump narrowly won North Carolina in 2016.
Oct 24, 1:13 pm
Long lines at NYC early voting locations
New Yorkers, many clad in face masks, are waiting in long lines Saturday to cast their early ballots on the first day of in-person voting.
Madison Square Garden and the Barclays Center are among the venues transformed into voting centers.
Oct 24, 12:45 pm
Biden says Trump will accept election results: ‘I’m not worried about any coup’
Former Vice President Joe Biden said on the “Pod Save America” podcast that Trump will accept the results of the election and he’s “not worried about any coup.”
“I guarantee you, he’ll accept the results, and he’ll be out in — there’s no one gonna stick with him,” Biden told hosts Dan Pfeiffer and Jon Lovett in an interview taped Friday and posted Saturday morning.
— John Verhovek
Oct 24, 12:26 pm
Biden says Trump will accept election results: ‘I’m not worried about any coup’
Former Vice President Joe Biden said on the “Pod Save America” podcast that Trump will accept the results of the election and he’s “not worried about any coup.”
“I guarantee you, he’ll accept the results, and he’ll be out in — there’s no one gonna stick with him,” Biden told hosts Dan Pfeiffer and Jon Lovett in an interview taped Friday and posted Saturday morning.
Oct 24, 12:15 pm
Biden: ‘This president cares more about the stock market than he does you’
The election “may come down to Pennsylvania,” former Vice President Joe Biden said at a drive-in event in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
“And I believe in you, I believe in my state,” said Biden, a Scranton native.
Biden then turned to attack President Donald Trump’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Yesterday while he is telling us everything is alright, we saw the highest number — 85,000 new cases in one day,” Biden said.
At a Friday night rally, Trump told his supporters the virus is “going away.”
Biden warned of a “dark winter ahead unless we change our ways.”
“All because this president cares more about the stock market than he does you,” Biden said.
Oct 24, 11:27 am
Biden tests negative for COVID-19
Former Vice President Joe Biden tested negative for COVID-19 on Saturday, marking his 14th negative test since the president announced he was diagnosed.
Oct 24, 10:42 am
Trump votes early in Florida
President Trump voted early at the Palm Beach County Library in West Palm Beach, Florida, Saturday morning as his supporters lined the streets outside holding American flags and Trump signs.
Some Trump supporters were heard shouting, “Four more years!”
The president voted on a paper ballot. No one was in the room with him at the time.
After casting his ballot, Trump briefly spoke to reporters, calling it an “honor to be voting in this great area.”
Trump said his vote was “very secure.”
Asked who he voted for, the president said, “A guy named Trump.”
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