With just seven days to go until Election Day, Democratic nominee Joe Biden made a stop in red-state Georgia, giving a pair of speeches in the town of Warm Springs and Atlanta, making a direct pitch to voters to give him a shot to heal a divided country.
Mr. Biden made a stop in the Peach State, which has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1992. Polls show a tight race and experts say he has a chance to win if he can garner enough support from Democrats, Black voters, white suburban women and enough white voters in rural areas to put him over the top.
In his speech, the former Vice President promised to be a president for all Americans regardless of party, highlighting the main point of unity and hope that began with his Democratic National Convention speech back in August.
“Has the heart of this nation turned to stone? I don’t think so,” Biden said. “I refuse to believe it.”
He turned his focus to the coronavirus pandemic, saying the virus is the cause for the wound being left in the country, with the issue dividing so many Americans on both sides, regardless of party.
“The tragic truth of our time is that COVID has left a deep and lasting wound in this country,” Biden said. He charged that the president has “shrugged. He’s swaggered. And he’s surrendered.”
The move of Mr. Biden going into Georgia shows the confidence from the Biden campaign, who are working to expand the map and give himself more paths to the needed 270 Electoral College votes should he falter in a state he’s currently leading in.
Mr. Biden and his campaign are also planning stops in Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida, and Ohio before next Tuesday’s election. His running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, has planned stops in Arizona and Texas.
Former President Barack Obama was in the Sunshine State on Tuesday, blasting President Donald Trump for wanting to stop talking about the coronavirus because it has been dominating news coverage.
“He’s jealous of COVID’s media coverage,” Obama said. “If he had been focused on COVID from the beginning, cases wouldn’t be reaching new record highs across the country this week.”
Along with trying to turn a red state blue, Mr. Biden’s visit to Georgia hopes to boost Democrats running for Senate. The Democratic nominee appeared in Warm Springs, where Roosevelt got seemed treatment while attempting to govern a broken nation.
“This place, Warm Springs, is a reminder that though broken, each of us can be healed,” Biden said. “That as a people and a country, we can overcome a devastating virus. That we can heal a suffering world. That, yes, we can restore our soul and save our country.”
