Former Vice President Joe Biden touched down in Cleveland Monday afternoon for a drive-in rally at Burke Lakefront Airport.
Biden spoke for almost 30 minutes from an airplane hangar at the Downtown airport before heading to Pennsylvania, where he planned to close out his pre-Election Day campaign swing.
“Ohio, one more day, one more day,” Biden told supporters who honked car horns as he spoke. “Tomorrow, tomorrow we have an opportunity to put an end to a presidency that has divided this nation.”
The Democratic nominee accused President Donald Trump of waving “the white flag of surrender” to the coronavirus pandemic. He criticized Trump for suggesting at a Florida rally that he may fire Anthony Fauci, the government’s leading infectious disease expert.
“I got a better idea,” Biden said. “Elect me and I’m going to hire Dr. Fauci, and we’re going to fire Donald Trump.”
Biden credited Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who introduced him at the rally, for inviting the campaign to Ohio one last time before Election Day. Also in attendance were all four of Ohio’s Democratic members of the House: Reps. Marcy Kaptur, Marcia Fudge, Tim Ryan and Joyce Beatty.
Both presidential campaigns have paid more attention to Ohio in recent weeks. Biden’s running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), toured Cleveland in late October, the same day Trump held a rally in Circleville.
The Cuyahoga County Republican Party brushed off the significance of the Biden campaign’s stop in a state Trump won by 8 points four years ago, in a statement emailed to media before the rally.
“They are too late to the game due to the lack of voter enthusiasm for Biden and Harris,” Lisa Stickan, the county GOP chair, said in the press release. “The Republican party spent the past two years building a strong ground game to earn voter support throughout Ohio.”
More than 2 million Ohioans had already voted by mail and early in person as of last Tuesday, according to the secretary of state’s office.
Polling places across the state will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 3. Voters can also drop off absentee ballots at board of elections drop boxes until the polls close on Election Day.
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