Trump counters Biden with law-and-order message in Midwest

President Donald Trump zeroed in on Midwest battleground states on Monday with a tough, law and order message to counterprogram former Vice President Joe Biden's show at the Democrats' national convention.

In Minneapolis, Trump's first stop of the day, the President stepped up his rhetoric against Biden.

“I’m here to help you. We will bring back law and order to your community. We will bring it back and we will bring it back immediately," Trump told supporters as he arrived in Minneapolis, where George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died in May in police custody.

On the tarmac, Trump addressed about 150 supporters — half of them wearing masks — who chanted “Four More Years.”

Trump told them that the Democrats will be taking away the constitutional amendment to bear arms.

Trump was visiting Minnesota and Wisconsin on Monday, the latter the official host state of the entirely virtual Democratic National Convention, to launch a week of travel and political events aiming to blunt the customary polling “bounce” that a candidate gets during their convention week. The president trails in both public and private surveys less than three months before Election Day.

On Tuesday, Trump will take on Biden over his immigration policies during a visit to Yuma, Arizona. He is also set to travel to Pennsylvania, the state of Biden's birth, on Thursday, ahead of the Democrat's acceptance speech.

Trump's aggressive push comes as his path to reelection has narrowed since the coronavirus hit, and he's been forced to play defense in the states that carried him to reelection four years ago. Minnesota, viewed as a GOP pickup opportunity a year ago, now appears to be slipping out of reach, Republicans say.