Here’s what’s happening Friday in Election 2020, 32 days until Election Day:
TODAY’S TOP STORIES:
TRUMP CONTRACTS COVID-19: President Donald Trump says he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus. Trump’s positive test comes just hours after the White House announced that senior aide Hope Hicks came down with the virus after traveling with the president several times this week. Trump is 74 years old, putting him at higher risk of serious complications from a virus that has now killed more than 205,000 people nationwide. The president’s physician said in a memo that Trump and the first lady “are both well at this time” and “plan to remain at home within the White House during their convalescence.”
SHOCK, SYMPATHY, MOCKERY: News that Trump has the virus drew instant reactions of shock, sympathy, undisguised glee and, of course, the ever-present outrage and curiosity that follow much of what the U.S. president does — even from 10,000 miles away. The positive test reading for the leader of the world’s largest economy added more uncertainty to investors’ worries, including how the infection might affect the Nov. 3 election.
ABORTION SILENCE: Trump is now tiptoeing around the issue as he tries to get another justice confirmed to the Supreme Court before Election Day. Trump is trying to deliver for his conservative base on the issue but also avoid making abortion a central focus of the election. His team worries it could turn off voters who support abortion rights and drive on-the-fence or undecided voters — especially women — to turn out for Joe Biden en masse.
DENYING, DEFENDING AND NUMB: Trump’s standing with white, working-class voters has proven resilient through federal investigations, impeachment and countless episodes of chaotic governing. But if those issues were too distant, reports about his tax avoidance might have had the potential to hit closer to home during a time of economic upheaval. Yet, interviews with voters in swing-state Wisconsin show scant evidence of damaging impact from The New York Times’ reporting this week on Trump’s long-secret tax returns.
PHILLY TARGETED: Trump’s campaign followed through on a threat to sue Philadelphia, filing papers in court over city officials preventing campaign representatives from watching people registering to vote or filling out mail-in ballots in election offices there. The lawsuit comes amid the president claiming that he can only lose the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania if Democrats cheat.
QUOTABLE: “Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!” — Trump on Twitter after he and the first lady tested positive for the coronavirus.
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