Trump warns of risk to oil industry if Biden becomes president
Miami, US, Oct 23 (efe-epa).- United States President Donald Trump warned Friday at a rally in central Florida of the risk to the country’s oil industry if his opponent in the presidential election, Democrat Joe Biden, wins.
While campaigning at The Villages Polo Club, Trump claimed that during the final election debate the previous night in Nashville, Tennessee, Biden expressed inclination to “abolish” the oil industry in a move towards renewable energy, although the former vice president later clarified that he might cut fossil fuel subsidies.
“That could be one of the worst mistakes made in presidential debate history,” said Trump before an audience of mostly retired people, most of whom neither wore masks nor maintained appropriate physical distance to prevent COVID-19 transmission.
In his first campaign after the Thursday’s debate between the two candidates, Trump criticized Biden on issues such as fossil fuels, illegal immigration, and the novel coronavirus. He also underlined that his rival wanted to sow fear through his comment over a “dark winter” coming.
“If you want jobs, safety and borders, you have to vote for the party of Abraham Lincoln, Honest Abe. Vote Republican,” said Trump in The Villages, a community of some 100,000 people, most of whom are retired.
He called Biden a liar and “corrupt” after posting a video in which Biden rejects before Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders that he wanted to cut Social Security, subsidized Medicare insurance and veterans’ aid.
The president promised that under his watch, “no one will touch your Medicare,” and claimed that in his first term, his administration had reduced Medicare advantage premiums by 34 percent.
He again alleged that Biden would put the US in danger of becoming another “Cuba or a Venezuela” if elected, along with his running mate Kamala Harris. The claims were rejected by Biden’s campaign office.
“We’re not going to have a socialist president, especially a female socialist president,” he said amid applause from the audience.
After promising that “next year will be the greatest economic year in the history of our country,” the president said that after the Nov. 3 elections there will be a “great red wave” in the country, alluding to the color associated with his Republican party.
After the rally at The Villages, the president attended another in Florida’s Pensacola.
“Please, please, suburban women. You should love me,” Trump pleaded before a group of voters who, according to surveys, are mostly inclined towards Biden.
In Pensacola, the president highlighted his foreign policy with a focus on peace in the Middle East and the restoration of diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan.
He then went on to claim that his opponent “will trap us in nothing but endless Middle East wars and other wars.”
He also said he would “ban deadly sanctuary cities where we protect criminals,” alluding to undocumented migrants, and alleged that Biden wanted to “take away the borders.”
Like Biden, the Republican aspires to win in Florida, which with 29 votes in the electoral college is crucial for his aspirations for a second term. He had won the state by a narrow margin in the 2016 elections.
With 11 days to go until the presidential election, some 4.7 million people – one-third of registered voters – have already cast their votes in Florida, either by mail or by early voting.
The president, too, looks to cast his vote early on Saturday in Palm Beach County, where he is a registered voter and where his winter residence and social club, Mar-a-Lago, is located.
After Florida, Trump is scheduled to continue his campaign during the weekend in North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin. EFE-EPA
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