TUCSON, Ariz. — President Trump on Monday cast himself as the ultimate outsider as he seeks another four years in Washington, saying he’s running not just against Joseph R. Biden but the media and Big Tech, too.
Mr. Trump repeatedly said he’s “not a politician” and highlighted the questions his campaign has raised about Mr. Biden’s son, Hunter, and his business dealings abroad.
The president says the Democratic nominee is “corrupt” and shored up by the mainstream media and social media companies, which have flagged or removed the Hunter Biden material.
“I’ve been running against it from the beginning,” Mr. Trump told supporters in Tucson, Arizona.
Mr. Trump also said he is the last man standing between the U.S. and a “left-wing crusade” or the Washington swamp, reprising his key message from 2016.
He said anyone else would have said, “Mommy, take me home.”
Mr. Trump is striking a defiant tone with two weeks to go until Election Day, sparring with everyone from Dr. Anthony Fauci to Democratic governors in Michigan and New York and bigwigs at Twitter.
“I’m not running scared. I think I’m running angry,” Mr. Trump told reporters as he departed Phoenix for Tucson. “I’m running happy and I’m running content because we’ve done a great job.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has weighed on Mr. Trump’s reelection bid. Polls show him trailing by an ample margin nationwide but in a tight race in key states that may determine the Electoral College.
The president is striking an optimistic tone even as the virus continues to swirl across the country, especially in the Midwest.
“It’s rounding the turn. I look fine, don’t I?” Mr. Trump said, referring to his own bout with the virus.
He also said people are “pandemic-ed” out and governors should open their economies, casting the pathogen as surmountable.
“I’m here, and now I’m immune. I can jump into this audience and kiss every man and woman,” he said.
Mr. Trump said the election is a choice between a “super recovery” on the virus-battered economy and a “Biden depression.”
The president said if he wins, “Next year will be the greatest economic year in the history of our country.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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