Vice President Mike Pence speaks at a rally in The Villages, Florida
Credit: AFP
The first to arrive at Mike Pence’s rally in The Villages, Florida, took their places on the socially distanced chairs. When the seats filled up, the rally-goers who had turned out in huge numbers to see the Vice President crammed in together.
The supporters kept coming and coming on Saturday afternoon, and before long it was standing room only.
One retiree joked to her similarly aged friend: “there goes social distancing.” The few who were wearing masks were pulling them down to speak to each other and take licks of their ice cream.
The mask-optional campaign rally in America’s largest retirement village — home to some 120,000 over 55s — risked becoming a "superspreader" event among the country’s most vulnerable.
When registering to attend the event, attendees had to acknowledge that the Trump campaign would not be liable if they contract Covid-19.
Thousands of unmasked supporters cheer as US Vice President Mike Pence speaks at a rally in The Villages, central Florida
Credit: AFP
A number of the attendees leaving before Mr Pence took to the stage. Were they worried about the virus? “No,” replied one woman through a mask. "It’s just really hot and we’ve been waiting for two hours already.”
At least six people had to be led out of the paddock by medics and local organisers — some of whom not wearing masks — after becoming faint in the hot Florida sun.
As the people kept coming, there was one attendee concerned enough to ask an on-duty Secret Service officer if there was an upper limit. “You’d think so, but no,” he replied.
Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaign’s director of communications, later tweeted that 3,000 showed up.
Sadly another elderly woman had to be helped out of the Pence rally by medics #florida pic.twitter.com/E0Kx8WjT6Z
— Josie Ensor (@Josiensor) October 10, 2020
Some health experts said as the head of the White House’s coronavirus task force, Mr Pence should have taken greater care in protecting attendees in The Villages.
The vice president made little mention of the coronavirus in his 45-minute speech, focusing instead on his performance in Wednesday night’s debate with Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s vice president nominee.
“It’s great to be back in the Sunshine State, it’s great to be back in Trump country,” Mr Pence said as he took to the stage in Brownwood Paddock Square.
“It was a debate between two visions,” he told the crowd. “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris want higher taxes, open borders and socialised medicines,” he said to jeers from the crowd, many of whom were over 55 and rely on Medicare. “They want to abolish fossil fuels, they want taxpayer-funded abortions. They want to defund the police and pack the courts,” he said to even louder boos.
Attendees listen to US Vice President Mike Pence as he speaks at a packed rally
Credit: AFP
Ron DeSantis, Florida’s Republican governor, late last month decided to fully reopen the Sunshine State, even as its cases rose to more than 3,000 a day. Nearly half of the some 15,000 who have died from the virus were older citizens.
"There’ s absolutely no social distancing," said Mark Halsband, 70, who was sat on one of the coveted few chairs. "Everyone’s just pushed them together.
"I’m not worried about me," said retired casino owner Mr Halsband, who was wearing a plastic face shield but no mask. "I’m worried about other people here, particularly the overweight. The only people who get the virus are unhealthy people, particularly the obese, so I just don’t hang around with people like that."
Florida, the nation’s largest bellwether state, is a must-win for Mr Trump, who is slumping in the polls.
The Villages, a reliably Conservative stronghold which crosses three different counties, including Sumter, has the highest turnout in the entire state.
Mr Trump has been haemorrhaging support among older voters, including here in central Florida.
A poll taken after Mr Trump’s diagnosis shows Mr Biden leading by 21 per cent among over 65s, the biggest lead by a Democrat in 25 years.
“It’s great to be back in the Sunshine State, it’s great to be back in Trump country,” Mr Pence said as he took to the stage in Brownwood Paddock Square.
Credit: AFP
They have been put off by the president’s handling of the coronavirus, which affects these voters more acutely than others. They were particularly alarmed by his performances at daily task force briefings in the spring because his remarks showed an uneven handling of the crisis and inspired little confidence.
“If Trump doesn’t win Sumter County at least two-to-one, he’s not winning Florida, or a second term,” predicted Dave Wasserman, House Editor for The Cook Political Report, where he is responsible for analysing US House Races.” In 2016, it went 68 per cent to Trump.
“If we see Sumter’s mail-in and early results at 7pm that come in something like 62 per cent -37 per cent for Trump with more than 75,000 ballots counted, I’d personally consider that to be game over for the president.”
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