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Here's a look at how US presidential candidates are gearing up for the elections

While Biden prepares for the last presidential debate at home, Trump is traversing the entire country
Last Updated 21 October 2020, 04:20 IST

One candidate for the White House is criss-crossing the United States, the other is at home, preparing for the final debate with his adversary.

Here is a look at what's going on on the American campaign trail on Tuesday, two weeks before Election Day on November 3:

The campaign of Joe Biden, the former Democratic vice president who is running against Donald Trump to win the Oval Office, announced early in the day that the 77-year-old had no public events on his schedule.

That raised questions for some about his health and about his strategy going into the home stretch, but he was believed to be preparing for his final debate with the Republican incumbent.

"Has anyone see Joe Biden?" quipped Trump's campaign team on Twitter, coining the hashtag #WhereIsJoe.

While Biden remained at home, the 74-year-old Trump headed to Pennsylvania, a battleground state he won in 2016 and which is key to his reelection bid.

Trump, who trails Biden in the polls, has ramped up the rhetoric in the last days of the campaign, attacking the Democratic former senator on multiple fronts -- especially hammering away at the allegation that Biden is corrupt.

His attack centers on a conspiracy theory about the Biden family's business activities. According to Trump, Biden's son Hunter sold access to his father in Ukraine and China when he was serving as vice president to Barack Obama.

Trump was hoping to have his wife Melania by his side at the event in Erie, Pennsylvania, but the first lady opted not to travel, citing a "lingering cough" that remains since her bout with the novel coronavirus.

The campaign hopes that she can help her husband win some key votes among suburban women.

According to the latest poll from The New York Times and Siena College published Tuesday, Biden leads Trump, 50 per cent to 41 per cent among likely voters.

Trump does not have an edge over the challenger on any major issues at stake in the election, from his handling of the coronavirus pandemic to the economy, seemingly leaving him little breathing room to make up the difference in time.

But according to another poll by Investor's Business Daily and the TechnoMetrica Institute of Policy and Politics (IBD/TIPP), the gap between the two septuagenarians has narrowed considerably, standing at just 2.3 percentage points -- 48.1 per cent for Biden to 45.8 per cent for Trump.

The IBD/TIPP poll was one of the few to predict a Trump victory in 2016.

Its latest polling shows Republicans rallying behind Trump, and Biden losing some support among unconvinced Democrats.

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(Published 21 October 2020, 03:54 IST)

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