2020 Race: Donald Trump to shift focus to economy

Donald Trump consistently scores higher than Joe Biden on the issue of who would better manage America’s economic recovery.

Donald Trump will focus on the economy. Picture: AFP.

Donald Trump is set to shift the central focus of his election campaign to the economy, saying that America’s economic recovery is the “defining issue’ of this presidential contest.

The reported move reflects the president’s advantage in polls where he consistently scores higher than his Democrat opponent Joe Biden on the issue of who would be better to manage the country’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

While Mr Trump would continue his strong campaign push on law and order, the issue has not gained him the jump in the polls that Republicans had hoped for.

The Trump campaign is preparing to launch a major advertising blitz focusing on the president’s economic achievements before the pandemic and on his ability to bring the economy back quickly if re-elected.

The latest Fox News Poll shows voters are more concerned with the economy and the virus than they are with fears of violence and crime.

The poll shows 87 per cent of voters are concerned about unemployment and 83 per cent are concerned about the spread of the virus compared with 64 per cent who were worried about crime and violence in their communities.

Fox News quoted a Trump campaign official as saying the new Republican advertising blitz would make the economy the “defining issue” of the 2020 presidential race.

“When you look at just August, which was 1.4 million jobs, that is 2.5 times the number of jobs created in the entirety of the eight years that Joe Biden was vice president,” the official said. “And so people want to vote for a president who will reopen the economy and knows what he’s doing.”

The Trump campaign is seeking to capitalise politically on the faster than expected economic recovery, although the US will still face high unemployment and financial hardship by the time of the November 3 poll.

me of the November 3 poll.

Mr Trump has launched a scorched-earth drive to catch Mr Biden with just seven weeks until the election, holding on Sunday (Monday AEST) his first large indoor rally in months.

Mr Trump is looking for a game-changing moment to catch Mr Biden, who leads national polls by 7.5 percentage points as the campaign enters its final countdown.

While the President still trails Mr Biden in the national polls, the news is better for Mr Trump in some key swing states.

Mr Biden leads the President by just 4.2 points in Michigan, 4.3 points in Pennsylvania, 6.3 points in Wisconsin and 4.5 points in Arizona.

The rally in Henderson, Nevada, was held despite warnings from local authorities that he was breaching state coronavirus laws as large numbers of supporters, most without masks, cheered on the President.

The brazen decision to defy coronavirus-­related safety protocols heralds a new phase in the increasingly bitter contest with the former vice-president.

In Florida, Mr Biden’s lead has narrowed from more than five points last month to 1.2 points, prompting the Democrat nominee to announce plans to travel to the state this week in an attempt to halt the swing towards Mr Trump.

The President’s indoor rally in Henderson was the first since his disastrous June 20 rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which drew a smaller than expected crowd and resulted in a spike in coronavirus ­infections.

Since then, the President has held only smaller rallies, often in open-air airport hangars, but the Henderson rally was the first attempt at a major indoor rally despite the ongoing high level of coronavirus infections in the US.

Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia