With just three and a half weeks until Election Day, former President Trump is holding a rally in Southern California on Saturday.
His campaign announced this week that the Republican presidential candidate will hold a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City later this month.
President Trump is scheduled to stop in Colorado on Friday and parachute into Illinois on Tuesday.
It’s been 40 years since Republicans won New York in the presidential election, 36 years since California and Illinois were red flags in the White House election, and 20 years since Republicans took Colorado.
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Former President Trump speaks at a rally in Uniondale, New York, on September 18 (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)
As the margin of error showdown between the White House and Vice President Kamala Harris reaches its final stages, and time is an invaluable asset for the presidential campaign, many are wondering why President Trump is in blue states. I’m wondering if it will ever stop. Very thin or non-existent.
“We just rented Madison Square Garden. We’re going to make a play. We’re going to make a play for New York. It hasn’t been played in a long time. It hasn’t been played in decades,” Trump said. , said this week at a rally in Pennsylvania, hours after the campaign announced the New York City date.
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“We’re playing for New Jersey. We’re playing for Virginia,” Trump continued, adding that he’s also looking to play in Minnesota and New Mexico.
Despite the former president’s bravado about expanding the electoral map, New York, New Jersey, California and Colorado rank solidly Democratic in the latest FOX News Power Rankings for the 2024 presidential election. Minnesota, New Mexico and Virginia are likely to be blue.
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President Trump is scheduled to headline a rally on Saturday in Coachella, a city in California’s Riverside County southeast of Palm Springs. Coachella is best known nationally for the music festival held nearby each April.
“President Trump’s visit to Coachella highlights Ms. Harris’ poor record, and shows that Ms. It will show that there is.”
Canceling Coachella could benefit President Trump not only in southeastern California, but also among Latino voters who have tended to lean toward Republicans in recent years, but more importantly, it is likely to be the difference between victory and defeat.7 in neighboring Arizona and Nevada, two of the three battleground states. The former president or Harris will win the 2024 election.
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Trump’s Oct. 27 rally at Madison Square Garden will be the third major campaign event this year in Democratic-dominated New York.
Last month, he filled the Nassau Coliseum in the New York City suburb of Uniondale. And in May, thousands of people gathered at a rally in the Bronx, New York City.
He also held a large rally along the New Jersey coast in May.
Former President Trump gestures at a campaign rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, on May 11. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Asked about the strategy to hold the October event in blue, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign told Fox News, “Choosing a high-impact setting could avoid the media’s attention or the possibility that President Trump would “We will no longer be able to block coverage of existing problems and solutions.” state. “We live in a nationalized media environment, and national media attention to these large-scale, substandard situations increases the reach of his message across the country and permeates every battleground state. That will happen.”
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Jesse Hunt, a Republican strategist and veteran of multiple Republican presidential campaigns, said these stops in blue states are more about message than geography.
“Mr. Trump has created a lot of unique and interesting contrasting situations that he can play to a large audience in the states that he cares about,” Hunt said. “You have to create a compelling story, a compelling contrast. I think that’s part of what Trump is doing.”
Hunt said Trump is a pro at “creating moments that permeate a polarized media environment,” adding, “Voters in Georgia and voters in North Carolina will be watching the news about Trump’s event at Madison Square Garden.” I’m sure they will consume it,” he said.
Former President Trump speaks at a campaign rally in the South Bronx, New York City, on May 23. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
Hunt singled out Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, the veteran campaign strategists who are running Trump’s 2024 campaign, saying they are a “pretty smart team… who are going to waste their time.” No,” he said.
Matthew Bartlett, a veteran Republican strategist, agreed: “We’re at a point where everything is nationalized.”
He said the Trump Blue State event “is going to spin the whole news cycle. It’s going to give his supporters something to talk about. And it’s going to go into the belly of the beast, into enemy territory.” I think there’s a lot of praise for getting in.”
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“Of course there are downsides,” Bartlett added.
“If this strategy proves ineffective during a period of decline, it could be similar to what Hillary Clinton did in the final days of 2016: “They were using their time incorrectly by not being in a place where they felt safe,” he said. “We must increase voter turnout.”
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Paul Steinhauser is a political reporter based in New Hampshire.