Local Politics

Joe Biden speaks at Riverside High School in Durham, encourages people to vote early

There are only 16 days left for candidates to vy for your vote before the 2020 elections. Former Vice President Joe Biden will be in Durham at around 1 p.m. on Sunday to campaign.

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DURHAM, N.C. — There are only 16 days left for candidates to vie for votes before Election Day.

Former Vice President Joe Biden spoke at Riverside High School in Durham on Sunday afternoon to campaign. People who came out to hear Biden speak gathered in their cars and honked their horns in excitement.

Biden encouraged people in Durham to cast their ballots before Oct. 31, during the state's early voting period while he campaigned on Sunday.

In a one-on-one interview with Sarah Krueger on Sunday, Biden said part of his plan to tackle systemic racism was to give $70 billion to historically black colleges and universities.

Biden also explained how he planned to reduce violent crime rates in the country.

"When were were in the White House, violent crime was reduced by 15% -- 15% nationally when we were in there," he said. "We brought together police officers, we brought together civil rights organizations and we had them sit down all at the table. The way you deal with bad cops is you root them out because good cops don't like them anymore than anyone else does."

Biden said if elected, he would ramp up coronavirus testing to "make sure we are able to get same day tests to people."

"We should be working on something and investing in, like pregnancy tests, you take it home and find out immediately. [The] same thing has to happen," he added.

This is the second time Biden has visited North Carolina since he resumed traveling during the pandemic. He first made a stop in Charlotte on Sept. 23, where he spoke with Black small-business owners about how the pandemic has affected them.
His Charlotte event was socially-distanced and he wore a mask. Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for vice president, was scheduled to attend campaign events in Asheville and Charlotte on Oct. 15. Her campaign canceled the events after learning some staffers tested positive for the coronavirus.

Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff, will travel to Wilmington and Greenville on Tuesday for campaign events.

Biden said in an interview with WRAL he can compete in the battleground state with far fewer and more socially distant in-person events.

"We compete responsibly," he told WRAL. "What we don't do is we don't bring about larger crowds where people are cheek to jowl. They're, in fact, breathing on one another, coughing on one another, and some people are going to get sick and die."

Saturday evening, the Trump campaign announced Donald Trump Jr. would be in Arden, N.C. on Monday for a 2:30 p.m. rally. He'll also make a stop in Kernersville on Monday at 6 p.m.

Ivanka Trump will be in Raleigh on Tuesday for a 5 p.m. rally.

President Trump will hold a rally in Gastonia, west of Charlotte, on Wednesday.

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