DONALD Trump has warned that Joe Biden will cancel Christmas with tough coronavirus lockdowns turning cities into "ghost towns" if he wins the election.
The President launched his latest attack on his Democrat rival as he also boastedhe "brought back Christmas" from politically correct censors.
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Trump invoked the "war on Christmas" talking point with the election just 16 days away as Biden believed to have a lead in the national polls ahead of November 3.
Speaking in Carson City, Nevada, he said: "Under the Biden lockdown, the lights of Reno and Las Vegas we’re extinguished.
"Carson City will become a ghost town. If he comes in, Carson City will become a ghost town. And the Christmas season will be cancelled."
Trump failed to mention that it will be him – not Biden -who will be President for the 2020 festive season.
The winner of the upcoming election won't take office until January 20.
Pinballing to another topic, Trump claimed he saved Christmas from being cancelled by people who thought the holiday was not "politically correct".
He said: "Look, remember I said we’re going to bring back Christmas? The name. Remember? We brought it back. Remember?
"I used to go around saying, 'We will bring…' because I saw these big department stores.
"They thought it was politically correct. So they’d say, 'Have a great season.' I say, 'No, I don’t want to have a great season. I want to say Merry Christmas. Say Merry Christmas.'
"Now, they’re all saying Merry Christmas."
His warning about Christmas being cancelled came as a top disease expert warned the next 12 weeks is going to the "darkest of the entire pandemic" for the US.
Michael Osterholm gave the grim prediction as almost 220,000 Americans have died from Covid-19 and more than 8million have been infected.
The US saw its highest daily figure since July on Friday as the case count surged past 70,000, and Osterholm added "we're going to blow right through that".
He said between now and Christmas the US will see "much much larger" numbers.
CHRISTMAS CANCELLED?
Speaking with Chuck Todd of NBC's Meet the Press, he said he did not share the Trump's administration's optimism about the pandemic.
Trump has been boasting a vaccine will be ready soon, told people not to be "afraid" of the virus, encouraged states away from lockdowns, and is reported to be considering a push for herd immunity.
Osterholm said: "We're not telling the full story. We do have vaccines and therapeutics coming down the pike, but when you look at the time period for that, the next six to 12 weeks are going to be the darkest of the pandemic.
"Vaccines will not become available in any meaningful way until early to [the] third quarter of next year. "
Osterholm added: "And even then, about half of the US population at this point is skeptical of even taking the vaccine."
He blasted that Americans do not have a "lead" voice to guide them, saying "people do not know what to believe".
The expert said: "Why are we telling people if you really love your family you won't go home for Thanksgiving or Christmas? We don't have that storytelling right now.
"This is our Covid year. Let's accept it. Think through this and do them the greatest gift of all. And that is distance yourself this year and don't expose them."
The Trump administration has been accused of ignoring expert advice, famously butting heads with disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci – but is now said to be looking at herd immunity, a policy originally pursued by Sweden.
Osterholm dismissed such plans as "pixie dust and pseudoscience" as the global coronavirus figures surpassed 40million and had their highest ever spike with 400,000 new cases on Friday.
Coronavirus has become a defining issue in the election, with Biden pushing for tougher measures to try and beat the pandemic as he accused Trump of "failing in his most basic duty to the nation".
Trump however has insisted his action on coronavirus has saved two million lives, and rubbished Biden's handling of the 2009 swine flu epidemic which killed 3,433 people in the US.
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