With the election less than two weeks away and more than 50 million ballots already cast, the fresh dispute over energy gave Trump a chance to shift the campaign away from his mishandling of a pandemic that's killed nearly 224,000 Americans and argue that Biden's remarks could cost him five or six states on Election Day.

The former vice president, meanwhile, began to deliver his own closing argument to voters, outlining his plan to tackle the pandemic with a focus on a free vaccine, governor-led mask mandates, a national testing plan and increased production and distribution of personal protective equipment.

"We're more than eight months into this crisis, and the President still doesn't have a plan. He's given up. He's quit on you. He's quit on your family. He's quit on America," Biden said in a speech in Wilmington, Delaware, on Friday. "He just wants us to grow numb and resign to the horrors of this death toll and the pain it's causing so many Americans."

Disapproval of Trump's handling of the pandemic has created a heavy drag on the President's poll numbers as he continues to ignore the current surge in cases in at least 30 states this week. In Florida on Friday, he once again insisted that the nation is "rounding the corner" and that life will soon return to normal, statements that are completely contrary to the facts.

Trump's attacks on Biden's stance on energy and the climate crisis come at a time when the former vice president is heading to the all-important state of Pennsylvania, which Trump won in 2016, that could serve as the lynchpin to who wins the election in 2020.

As they battle over Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes, Trump has been pummeling Biden for shifting his position on fracking, which is central to the commonwealth's economy. Biden has made confusing statements about fracking during the course of the 2020 campaign, but he has not proposed a full ban on fracking, as Trump claims.

Several down-ballot Democrats in states with close ties to the energy industry -- including two of House Democrats' most vulnerable incumbents, Reps. Xochitl Torres Small of New Mexico and Kendra Horn of Oklahoma -- distanced themselves from Biden's comments, using it as a chance to highlight an area of disagreement with the top of the ticket.

During his two rallies in Florida on Friday, Trump highlighted Biden's assertion during Thursday night's debate that he "would transition from the oil industry, yes" to help address the climate crisis by increasing reliance on renewable energy.

Pressed by reporters after the debate, Biden clarified that he was referring to ending federal subsidies for oil. "Eventually we're going to have to go to oil, but we're not getting rid of fossil fuels," Biden said. "We're getting rid of the subsidies for fossil fuels, but we're not getting rid of fossil fuels for a long time," he said, adding "it will not be gone" until "probably 2050."

But Trump eliminated any nuance in Biden's position when in Florida on Friday, telling a crowd of seniors at the sprawling retirement community known as