Obama stumps for Biden in Miami as both campaigns make final push for Florida
FOX NEWS - Barack Obama campaigned for Biden at a drive-in rally in Miami Saturday as both Biden and Trump make a final push for Florida.
"Ten days Miami, 10 days until the most important election in our lifetime," the former president told supporters. "This election requires every single one of us. What we do in these next 10 days will matter for decades to come."
The former president encouraged voters to cast their ballots early either with a mail-in ballot or at early voting sites across the state.
He also slammed President Trump for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and a host of other issues.
"At least 220,000 Americans are dead. More than 100,000 small businesses have closed. Half a million jobs are gone right here in Florida," Obama said.
"I understand the president is coming to Florida today. You think he's hard at work coming up with a plan to get us out of this mess? ... He doesn't have a plan. He doesn't even acknowledge the reality of what's taking place all across the country."
President Trump voted early in West Palm Beach Saturday, saying afterward that he cast his ballot for “a guy named Trump."
He spent the day before campaigning in The Villages and Pensacola, then spent the night at his Mar-a-Lago club.
“It’s an honor to be voting, it’s an honor to be in this great area that I know so well,” Trump told reporters. “There’s tremendous spirit. I hear we are doing very well in Florida, and we’re doing very well, I hear, every place else.”
Vice President Mike Pence also campaigned in Florida Saturday, underscoring the importance of the Sunshine State's 29 electoral votes.
"Here in Florida, you believe we could be strong again. You believe we could be prosperous again," Pence told supporters in Lakeland. "You said yes to President Donald Trump in 2016. And I know that Florida is going to say yes to President Donald Trump in 2020."
The Trump-Pence ticket won Florida by 1.2% in 2016, or just under 113,000 votes.
It will likely be just as close in 2020. According to a RealClearPolitics average of polls, Biden is slightly ahead of Trump 48.6% to 47.1% right now.
Voter turnout is also on track to break records this year, as 5,288,965 Florida residents already had voted by mail or in person at early voting sites as of Saturday morning, according to the state's Division of Elections.
Before Obama spoke at the rally in Miami, he made a surprise stop at a Democratic volunteer location to make it clear just how important the swing state is this year.
“If you bring Florida home, this thing’s over," he told volunteers before they headed out to knock on doors.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.