SPARTANBURG/NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C., (Reuters) – Presidential contender Joe Biden told South Carolina’s Democrats yesterday that they can take control of the White House if they pick “the right nominee” to face President Donald Trump.
“If you send me out of here with a victory that’s significant then I think I’m going to be the next nominee,” he said at Wofford College in Spartanburg. “We really can’t afford to let Donald Trump have four more years.”
It was a message of hope for Democrats who widely dislike the sitting president, but also for a campaign much in need of hope.
A win in South Carolina’s fourth-in-the-nation nominating contest on Saturday would be a big boost to Biden’s chances of being the Democratic nominee to run against Trump on Nov. 3. Biden faces candidates including front-runner Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist.
At a rally in North Charleston, Trump urged his Republican supporters to vote in the Democratic primary to ensure he faces the weakest possible opponent, which is allowed in South Carolina.
“Who the hell is easier to beat?” Trump asked of the crowd. He ultimately said the answer was Sanders.
Here’s what else happened on the campaign trail on Friday:
Before Trump took the stage in North Charleston, his fiercest supporters had been waiting for hours – even days.
Packing blankets, chairs and coolers, thousands waited to enter the rally, some of them having camped out to attend.
Richard Snowden was in his usual place – first in line. Dressed in a crisp suit and tie, the 68-year-old retired restaurant and nightclub businessman from Florida said he arrived on Tuesday for what would be his 66th Trump rally.
“I’m competitive, obviously. And I like being number one,” he said.
Trump decided to hold a rally here even though the state’s Republican Party canceled its nominating contest to ensure the president faced no opposition as he seeks re-election.
The evening marked the third Trump event for Snowden’s girlfriend, Trish Asselta, who said she’s already hooked.
“The energy that everyone portrays is just a feeling that you just can’t explain. I mean, he energizes everyone,” she said.
Earlier in the day, Biden, Sanders and former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg joined the chorus of prominent Democrats criticizing the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, which expanded to six new countries and sent global stock markets tumbling again on Friday.
At a campaign event in Sumter, South Carolina, Biden accused Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, who is overseeing the government response to the outbreak, of misleading the American public about the virus threat.
“Trump and Pence decided that the public health experts cannot inform the public on their own what’s going on,” Biden said. “Now the president won’t let other people tell the truth.”
Sanders slammed Trump for holding the North Charleston rally rather than remaining in Washington to address the situation.
“Why is he here? He’s here to try and disrupt the Democratic primary,” Sanders said in St. George. “How pathetic and how petty can you be?”
Bloomberg pointed to the sharp stock market drop as a sign of concern about Trump’s competence.
“The stock market has plunged partly out of fear (about the virus) but also because investors have no confidence that this president is capable of managing the crisis,” Bloomberg said in Memphis, Tennessee.
Bloomberg, a late entrant in the race for the White House, has not competed in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada or South Carolina, and is pinning his hopes on Super Tuesday nominating contests next week in Tennessee and 13 other states.
