Final Trump-Biden campaign blitz aims at Midwest

President Donald Trump and Vice President Joe Biden went poaching on rival ground in the Midwest on Friday night, four days before election day. Biden went for Iowa, a state that backed Trump in 2016; the president made a play for Minnesota, which voted for Hillary Clinton last time round. Trump was targeted for failing to combat the covid pandemic – more than 9m confirmed cases in the US; more than 200,000 deaths – but his audiences outnumbered and outshouted those of his rival.

The Democratic candidate has a solid national lead in the polls and his war chest is double that of his Republican rival.  But recalling the 1916 upset, Biden commented: I don’t take anything for granted.”

More than 85 million people have voted early, 55 million of them by post, promising the biggest voter turnout in over a century.