US needs another four years of Trump at White House: VP Pence

The US needs four more years of President Donald Trump at the White House, his deputy and running mate Mike Pence told his countrymen in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, arguing that the administration has delivered on its promises in its first term.

"It's a movement of everyday Americans from every walk of life. Here in Pennsylvania, you believe we could be strong again," the Vice President said at an election rally in West Mifflin, a suburb of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.

"Pennsylvania and America need four more years of President Donald Trump in the White House. It's amazing to think about four years ago," Pence told an enthusiastic crowd, a day after the final presidential debate in Nashville, Tennessee, between Republican incumbent Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

In August, when Pence had formally accepted the Republican vice-presidential nomination for the November 3 election, he said the US needs four more years of the Trump administration in these challenging times.

"You believe we could be prosperous again. You said yes to President Donald Trump in 2016. And I know, Pennsylvania is gonna say yes to four more years of President Donald Trump," said Pence amidst cheers from the audience as he focused his speech broadly on achievements of the Trump administration and criticizing the policies of his predecessor.

"We achieved so much," he asserted.

"The choice in this election has never been clear. Stakes have never been higher," he said. "The choice in this election is if America remains America," he said, alleging that a Biden-Harris administration along with the "radical Left would take the country down the path of socialism".

"Thus the decline of America," he said.

A Biden administration, Pence said, would result in increase in taxes on the middle class and loss of manufacturing jobs.

"In the last three years, Trump reduced taxes and created millions of jobs. Biden and his running mate Senator Kamala Harris want to crush America's energy independence through their USD 2 trillion Green New Deal," the US Vice President said.

Pence slammed Biden for his remarks in the debate on banning fracking and closing down the oil industry. The campaign played a video of Biden and Harris contradicting their own remarks. The video drew the biggest boos from the several hundred Americans who had gathered at a city airport to listen to the vice president.

"Four More Years" was the constant cheers from his supporters. The President took the stage and took Biden hands down, Pence said, asserting that "Trump won the debate". "No doubt about that," he said.

Amidst loud cheers and clapping from the audience, Pence said the Trump administration will never let America become a socialist country, "which Biden and his team are conspiring to make".

"Do you want a proven job creator or someone who ships jobs abroad?" he asked. "It's a choice between Trump's economic recovery and Biden's depression," he said.

The crowd of a few hundreds, which is far less compared to the thousands being attracted by Trump at his election rallies, included women, children and African-Americans.

Both Pence and Trump have been campaigning very hard in the battleground state. A win or defeat in Pennsylvania is most likely to decide who the occupant of the White House would be for the next four years. The latest opinion polls show that Biden is leading in Pennsylvania by over 5 percentage points. However, the gap has been reducing over the past few days.

A former Congressman and Governor of Indiana, Pence, 61, has been addressing multiple campaign rallies across the country, in particular in the battleground states.

The size of the crowd that Pence attracts is far less than that of Trump, but is considerable given the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing measures in place.

Pence, who headed the White House Task Force on COVID-19, told the audience that a vaccine is on its way by the end of the year.

"While Biden is determined to shut down the US, Trump is committed to open it all and revive the country's economy. We are opening up America again. We are opening up schools," he said.