Joe Biden slams Donald Trump for Friday rallies in Florida

Joe Biden in Florida.

One ritual of this campaign season, when Republicans roll out events and Democrats condemn them, continued Friday.

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden hammered President Donald Trump for coming to the Sunshine State with two rallies to close out the week.

The Biden campaign released a prepared statement Friday morning, slamming the President’s visit in light of high unemployment and worrisome COVID-19 case levels.

“News this week that Florida lost an additional 28,000 jobs in September, which brought this year’s job losses in Florida to more than 775,000, is just another difficult reminder that Florida families are hurting due to President Trump’s failure to get this virus under control,” Biden lamented.

“Floridians deserve a President who understands this challenging time we’re living through, and has a plan to get us out of this pandemic and build back our economy. Ask yourself: what exactly does Donald Trump bring to Florida today to help your family get through this pandemic?”

The statement continued to hit some of the high points of stretch run campaign messaging.

“This moment requires a president who is up for the monumental task at hand – one who does not refer to service members as ‘suckers’ or ‘losers’, or say seniors and others most vulnerable to this virus are ‘virtually nobody.’ We need leadership. We need a President who will tell the truth and be straight up with Floridians about the challenges we’re facing, a President who has a plan to get our economy safely back on track, and a President who believes in treating others with decency and dignity. Florida, I will be that President,” Biden contended.

President Trump has two Florida stops slated.

The President will address ralliers in the Villages at 4:30. Doors open three hours prior to the event at The Villages Polo Club.

Trump moves on to Pensacola from there, with a 7PM event at the ST Engineering hangar at the Pensacola International Airport.

The President is down in polling, including a fresh St. Pete Polls survey commissioned by Florida Politics that shows Biden with a nearly 20-point lead among voters who have voted. Overall, Biden is up +2 in a poll predicated on a Republican +1 turnout model.