Trump, Biden trade barbs as presidential race reaches final stages

President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden have taken aim at each other as the tense presidential race is entering its final stages.

Trump has once again used the White House as his campaign stage during a Labor Day news conference on Monday, calling Biden “stupid.”

The president, who previously claimed that his administration had “done a great job” on tackling the coronavirus crisis, said Biden "wants to surrender our country to the virus, he wants to surrender our families to the violent left-wing mob, and he wants to surrender our jobs to China."

Trump slams Harris for caution on vaccine push

US President Donald Trump has suggested Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris is sabotaging a prospective coronavirus vaccine for political ends.

COVID-19, which emerged early this year in the US, has claimed the lives of more than 189,000 people, infected over 6,301,000 across the country.

Tens of millions of people have also lost their job due to the health crisis and ensuing economic downturn.

Biden hit back at Trump in Pennsylvania, where he held a socially distanced meeting with union leaders on Monday, saying the president lacked the "guts" to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

Addressing the event, Biden said Trump “didn't have the guts to take on COVID.”

"We know he's been great for his rich friends, but he hasn't been so great for the rest of us," said Biden.

Asked by a reporter about Trump's accusation that Biden "lost a step,” he said, “Look at how he steps and look at how I step."

"Watch how I run up ramps and how he stumbles down ramps, OK?” Biden added.

He also attacked Trump over a report in The Atlantic magazine that the president called American forces killed in World War I “losers,” describing the reported comment as “downright un-American.”

“Calling those who have served, risked their lives, even gave their lives for our nation, ‘losers’ and ‘suckers’ … these are heroes,” Biden said.

“He's downright un-American," Biden said about Trump.

The president, however, has dismissed the report as a "hoax.”

Biden further vowed to be the “strongest labor president you’ve ever had.”

"If I have the honor of becoming your president, I'm going to be the strongest labor president you have ever had,” Biden said.

Trump and Biden are trading blows as the US is contenting with months-long anti-racism nationwide protests.

Biden has issued a sharp rebuke of the violence and looting that have accompanied some protests, and denounced racism as the country's "original sin."

The 77-year-old former vice president accused Trump of fomenting violence, saying that, "Fires are burning and we have a president who fans the flames rather than fighting the flames."

New CBS News/YouGov polls revealed that former Vice President Joe Biden maintains his grip on the 2020 race for the White House.

Biden is up 52% to 42% over Trump among likely voters nationally, and he has a 50% to 44% edge over Trump in the key battleground state of Wisconsin as well.

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