With 13 days to go until election day, I'm in North Carolina, a crucial battleground state where Donald Trump and Joe Biden are tied, according to latest polls.
Trump is due to hold a campaign rally here in Gaston County tonight. Speaking to people in this predominantly white, rural community where he won more than 60 per cent of the vote in 2016, the president appears to be as popular as ever.
At the local Republican office that doubles as a merchandise store, supporters are lining up to add their names to tonight’s rally attendance list. Pink “Women for Trump” hats have already sold out, and they are expecting more shipments (full story in tomorrow’s Irish Times).
Trump was back on the campaign trail last night in Pennsylvania – another key state in this year’s election – though his wife Melania did not accompany him as expected due to a “lingering cough” following her coronavirus diagnosis.
Trump castigated the media, Joe Biden and the Washington establishment during the event, which was attended by thousands of supporters in defiance of social distancing guidelines.
“It’s time to send the liberal wealthy hypocrites a message by delivering Joe Biden – Sleepy Joe – a thundering defeat on Nov 3rd,” he said to cheers. “Pennsylvania, you’ve got to get out and vote. You know if we win Pennsylvania, we win the whole thing.”
Earlier, Trump reportedly walked out of an interview with TV programme 60 Minutes at the White House, criticising interviewer Lesley Stahl on Twitter for not wearing a mask. While details of the altercation were not confirmed, he threatened to release his own recording of the interview. The interview with 60 Minutes – still the most-watched programme in America – is scheduled to air on Sunday.
In another potential headache for the president, the New York Times published more details from its investigation into Trump's finances. It shows Trump maintains a bank account in China, one of only three countries outside the United States where he maintains an account – the other two are Ireland and Britain.
Meanwhile, the Biden campaign hosted its latest "Irish-Americans for Biden event" last night. Congressman Richard Neal, who chairs the ways and means committee that has authority over trade deals, again warned Britain a trade deal with the US will not happen if the Belfast Agreement is undermined.
The event also heard from other high-profile Americans such as Pennsylvania congressman Conor Lamb and New York senator and former Democratic presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand.
On the campaign trail today
North Carolina is in focus today. President Trump will hold a rally in Gastonia in the south of the state tonight, while Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris will campaign in Asheville and Charlotte.
Though Biden is not expected to make any public appearances as he prepares for tomorrow night's presidential debate, former president Barack Obama will attend his first public campaign event on behalf of his former vice-president. He is scheduled to speak at a drive-in rally in Philadelphia later today.
The historic city, where the US constitution was signed, was the location for his speech to the Democratic National Convention in August. It was also where he delivered a speech with Hillary Clinton on the eve of the 2016 presidential election, warning that Donald Trump was unfit to be president.
Quote of the day
"His rhetoric is very much of a demagogue where he has tried to denigrate the institutions of government because he feels threatened by them, he denigrates the role of the courts and the judicial system when they rule against him, and he has continued to undermine the notion of the importance of a free press." Former CIA director John Brennan on Donald Trump in today's Irish Times.
Recommended reads
My report on a New York Times-Siena College poll that shows Joe Biden gaining ground in the Republican-leading state of Georgia.
I interview former CIA director John Brennan in today's Irish Times. He pulls no punches about Trump, condemning the president's "dishonesty, his lack of character, his deceit".
Kerry native and CNN reporter Donie O'Sullivan has an in-depth piece on Q-Anon, the right-wing conspiracy movement embraced by many Trump fans.
Economist Paul Krugman on why Biden "will need to spend big" if he wins in November.
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