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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Tom Davidson

Midterms: Joe Biden says election is an ‘inflection point’ that will define next 20 years

Joe Biden and Donald Trump will on Monday hold duelling rallies as they attempt to tip the balance in the midterm election that promises to reshape Congress.

Polls indicate Republicans could wrest control of the House of Representatives, a move that would severely restrict Mr Biden’s legislating power.

The 100-seat US senate is also on a knife-edge with high-profile races in the battleground states of Georgia and Pennsylvania.

Mr Biden will speak at a rally in Maryland, normally considered a Democrat stronghold, while Mr Trump will be promoting JD Vance who is running for the Senate in Ohio.

With the campaign in its final day, Democrats are braced for severe losses in the House amid high inflation and other economic challenges.

Mr Biden spoke at a rally in New York on Sunday to support Governor Kathy Hochul, who is up against Trump-backed Republican candidate Lee Zeldin.

Mr Biden called the election “an inflection point” that will determine the next 20 years. He told voters they are choosing between two “fundamentally different visions of America”.

President Joe Biden and New York Governor Kathy Hochul (AP)

He said Republicans were willing to condone last year’s mob attack at the Capitol and that, after the recent assault of Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, some in that party made “light of it” or were “making excuses.”

“There’s never been a time in my career where we’ve glorified violence based on a political preference,” the president said.

Meanwhile, a Sunday evening Trump rally in Miami, a reference to Nancy Pelosi prompted changes of “Lock her up!” — a stark reminder of the nation’s deep divide.

Mr Trump spoke for more than an hour - hammering Democrats for leading the country towards “communism”.

“Democrats want to turn America into communist Cuba or socialist Venezuela,” Mr Trump told the audience members.

“To every Hispanic American in Florida and across the land, we welcome you with open open open arms to our [Republican] party,” he continued.

It is widely expected that later this month he will announce his plans to run for the presidency once again - despite being at the centre of a number of ongoing investigations around his taxes, the January 6 Capitol attack and how he handled classified documents after removing them from the White House.

Donald Trump is expected to run for the presidency in 2024 (AP)

Not attending the Miami event was Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, who is running for reelection against Democrat Charlie Crist and is widely considered Trump’s most formidable challenger if he also were to get into the White House race.

Mr Biden has made the case that the nation’s very democracy is on the ballot and the first lady went to Texas on Sunday to sound a similar alarm.

“So much is at stake in this election,” Jill Biden said in Houston. “We must speak up on justice and democracy.”

Traveling in Chicago Vice President Kamala Harris said, “These attacks on our democracy will not only directly impact the people around our country, but arguably around the world.”

Mr Trump has long falsely claimed he lost the 2020 election only because Democrats cheated and has even begun raising the possibility of election fraud this year. Federal intelligence agencies are warning of the possibility of political violence from far-right extremists.

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