Trump campaign knocks Biden event: ‘All they could manage is a virtual event’

President Trump’s reelection campaign knocked an early vote rally with former Vice President Joe Biden’s wife, Jill Biden, and Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) on Monday, saying its Democratic counterpart could manage only a virtual campaign event. 

“It is clear how low Virginians are on the Biden campaign’s priority list as all they could manage is a virtual event. Meanwhile, Virginia Trump Victory is seeing unprecedented enthusiasm for President Trump and Republicans up and down the ballot,” Trump Victory spokeswoman Samantha Cotten said in a statement.

“Over the next few weeks, we will fully engage our volunteer base to contact voters in Virginia and get out the vote for President Trump and the GOP ticket,” she added. 

According to the RealClearPolitics polling average, Joe Biden leads Trump by 12.5 points in Virginia. However, the Trump campaign and Republicans have their eyes on a number of congressional districts that were won by Republicans in 2016 but flipped by Democrats in 2018, including Wexton’s seat. 

The statement comes as the Trump and Biden campaigns showcase drastically different campaign styles amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

While the Biden campaign has stuck to virtual and socially distanced events, the president’s campaign often goes against official public safety guidelines, holding crowded gatherings. 

The president held two large rallies over the weekend in Nevada, including one indoor rally at Xtreme Manufacturing in Henderson, defying state coronavirus rules limiting gatherings to no more than 50 people. The events drew thousands of people. Few wore masks, and there was no social distancing.

The campaign did administer temperature checks to those entering the venue on Sunday, provided access to hand sanitizer and handed out masks that attendees were encouraged to wear, though many chose not to wear a face covering.

Trump said in an interview published on Monday that he was not concerned about contracting the virus at the large-scale campaign events. 

“I’m on a stage that’s very far away, and so I’m not at all concerned,” Trump said Sunday in an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Coronavirus cases surged last June in Tulsa, Okla., after Trump held an indoor rally in the city. A local health official said the rally and accompanying protests “likely contributed” to the spike in coronavirus cases in the area.