Presidential campaigns converge on Arizona
Battleground state gets dueling campaign stops from both sides of the ticket - NBC's Alice Barr has details
PHOENIX, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY/NBC News) - Arizona is one of a handful of states that could tip the scales in either candidate's favor.
In a sign of how tight the race is getting, President Donald Trump rallied voters on Wednesday in rural areas to make up for defectors from the suburbs.
Former Vice President Joe Biden's running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, made stops in the battleground state as well.
The President won the state in 2016, but now polls show a tight race with a slight Biden advantage. That has Trump fighting for every vote.
"What ever you do you have to vote- who's going to vote for sleepy Joe?" said Trump to boos from the crowd." said Trump.
Senator Harris met with business leaders in Tucson before attending a drive-in rally.
"We know that the real strength of any human being is not based on who you beat down It is based on who you lift up." Harris told supporters.
Biden, back in Delaware, voted early. He spent the day off the trail, but on message. He got a coronavirus briefing from health experts before laying out his plans to get the pandemic under control.
"We will let science drive our decisions. We will deal honestly with the American people and we'll never ever ever quit." said Biden.
It comes as the White House science office takes hit for a press release listing "ending the COVID-19 pandemic" as one of the President's top accomplishments. That in spite of record surges now sweeping the country.
A White House spokesperson now calling the statement "poorly worded."
"We're certainly not getting ahead of it, we're in the midst of the pandemic, we say we're turning the corner." said Alyssa Farah, the White House Director of Strategic Communications.
The grim reality of the virus contradicting the message the President wants to send six days before voting ends.
On Thursday the focus shifts to the country's biggest battleground state - Florida. Trump and Biden both will hold events there. The President also has an evening rally in North Carolina.
