Many experts believe Pennsylvania will be a pivotal state in deciding the presidential election, and Joe Biden is holding his final rally before Election Day outside of Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field on Monday.
Standing alongside Biden will be pop superstar Lady Gaga, who will be performing at Monday’s rally.
Polls in Pennsylvania have tightened in recent weeks. Recent polls have given Biden an average of a 5% lead in the state. With Biden showing stronger leads in Michigan and Wisconsin, polling is suggesting that Pennsylvania could be the state that puts either Biden or Donald Trump over 270 Electoral College votes.
In prepared remarks released by the Biden campaign, he is expected to sharpen his attack on Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The people of this nation have suffered and sacrificed for nine months, none more so than our doctors and front-line health care workers and this president is questioning their character, their integrity, their commitment to their fellow Americans?” Biden is expected to say, according to prepared remarks.
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign is attacking the Biden campaign for including Lady Gaga, who they claim is an “anti-fracking activist.”
“Nothing exposes Biden’s disdain for the forgotten working men & women of PA like campaigning with anti-fracking activist Lady Gaga,” said Trump campaign spokesperson Tim Murtaugh said. “This desperate effort to drum up enthusiasm is actually a sharp stick in the eye for 600,000 Pennsylvanians who work in the fracking industry.”
The number of jobs mentioned by the Trump campaign is a gross exaggeration of fracking jobs in the state, according to federal statistics. Other recent reports show the number of those employed by fracking in Pennsylvania to be far lower than the Trump campaign suggests.
Lady Gaga hit back at Murtaugh.
HEY TIM HEY @realDonaldTrump SO HAPPY IM GLAD TO BE LIVING RENT FREE in your HEAD. #BidenHarris https://t.co/k2ODfQNkF3 pic.twitter.com/Iy3Nj8aYMR
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) November 1, 2020
In his prepared speech in Pittsburgh, Biden was not expected to address fracking. In other recent statements, Biden says that he is not calling for an immediate ban on fracking, but has said he would prefer is the US move to renewable energy sources.
"I'm not banning fracking in Pennsylvania or anywhere else,” Biden said.
Although Biden has insisted he opposes a ban on fracking, the Trump campaign has tried to make the case that Biden would be influenced by the more liberal wing of the party, which has come out in opposition of fracking.