Trump, Vance to address first joint rally; Biden faces more calls for exit

Washington, July 20: Former US President and Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump is heading to Michigan, a swing state, for his first election rally since the assassination attempt on him along with his Vice President pick J.D. Vance, even as his Democratic rival President Joe Biden confronts growing calls from his party lawmakers to make way for a different candidate to run for the White House citing their lack of faith in his ability to win.

Trump and Vance will hold a rally in Grand Rapids, a covered venue, unlike the open-air site for the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a gunman from a nearby rooftop took a shot at him, hitting his right ear last Saturday.

The shooter was shot by a Secret Service sniper, but his motive remains unclear even after a week of investigation led by the FBI.

This will be Trump and Vance’s first joint rally after the four-day Republican convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which anointed them nominees for President and Vice President, respectively.

President Biden, meanwhile, has continued to self-isolate at home in Delaware due to a Covid-19 infection, with the number of congressional Democrats calling for his exit growing to more than 35, according to a tally by The Washington Post.

He remained defiant with allies and aides, saying he was not going anywhere and intended fully to run to the finish line.

“I look forward to getting back on the campaign trail next week to continue exposing the threat of Donald Trump’s Project 2025 agenda while making the case for my own record and the vision that I have for America," Biden said recently in a statement, referring to a policy plan put together by allies for the second Trump administration if he wins.

But recent news reports indicate that Biden is “more receptive” to talk of his exit than before, giving the growing body of party leaders hope that he can be persuaded to step aside and make way for a different candidate, which could be Vice President Kamala Harris, who has taken lead in addressing rallies and fundraisers as Biden recovers from Covid.

Trump is ahead of Biden in the national poll, although by a slim margin, but the focus is on a handful of states that are dominated neither by the Democratic party nor the Republican . They can go either way from one election to another, unlike the other states that have remained solidly aligned with one of the two parties, and that’s why they are known as swing states, also called battleground states.

They are Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada, North Carolina, Arizona, and Georgia.

Trump is leading Biden by 46.7 per cent to 42.4 per cent in the RealClearPolitics average of polls.

The former President is ahead 47/4 to 41.4 in Arizona, 47.7 to 43.6 in Nevada, 46.6 to 43.3 in Wisconsin, 44 to 42.3 in Michigan, 47.9 to 43.4 in Pennsylvania, 47.2 to 41.5 in North Carolina, and 46.2 to 42.2 in Georgia.

What has really struck the Democrats as particularly alarming is that Trump is ahead also in Virginia, which was once a Republican-dominated state but voted solidly for the Democrats in recent years.

The former President is ahead, although by the slimmest of margins -- 45.8 to 43.4.