Trump plans to rally in Democratic states in last stretch before election

The US elections are merely weeks away and the race is no closer to being predicted than it was a few weeks ago. Vice- President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump remained entangled in a close tussle to win the keys to the White House.

In an unorthodox bid to boost his chances, Trump, in the last stretch to the November 5 elections, has decided to hold rallies in historically blue states (ones that unexpectedly vote for Democrats) where he has minimal chances of winning, NBC News reported. Campaign advisers have said that the rallies are designed to focus on areas where Democrats have failed to attract voters, something Trump could benefit from. But at the same time, Trump campaigning in blue states is bound to keep him away from the few swing states that are almost certain to decide the election.

Trump is scheduled to attend events in California, Colorado, New York, and Illinois – all states that Joe Biden won in 2020 by an average of 20 points. Notably, Colorado is the only state in the group to vote for a Republican candidate - George W Bush in 2004 – this millennium.

Out of the events planned, the one to be hosted later this month at Madison Square Garden is New York will definitely attract attention, with the venue being one where Trump has always wanted to hold a rally.

“Choosing high-impact settings makes it, so the media can’t look away and refuse to cover the issues and the solutions President Trump is offering,” said a senior Trump campaign adviser of the strategy to target Democratic states. “We live in a nationalised media environment and the national media’s attention on these large-scale, outside-the-norm settings increases the reach of his message across the country and penetrates in every battleground state.”

“President Trump is closing the campaign highlighting the problems the country faces as a result of Harris and Biden’s failed leadership and articulating his solutions to solve the problems they created,” the adviser added.

Trump’s decision to rally in other states is a significant one considering that swing states like Georgia, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina are expected to decide the race. Furthermore, in these states, both Trump and Harris have polled within the margin of error; the race is open and there to be won.

“This does not seem like a campaign putting their candidate in critical vote rich or swing vote locations — it seems more like a candidate who wants his campaign to put on rallies for optics and vibes,” long-time Republican operative Matthew Bartlett said.

Bartlett also deemed Trump the “most unorthodox candidate in modern history", which could potentially lead to the strategy having some value.

“In 2016, Trump realigned the party to be much more rural and working class. Now in 2024, he is trying to expand his voting base along certain cultural lines that may eat away at traditional Democratic voting blocs,” Bartlett said.

While some believe the strategy might work and some don’t, there has been some public pushback to Trump’s scheduled visits.

Coachella Mayor Steven Hernandez, a Democrat, blasted Trump in a statement released.

“Trump’s attacks on immigrants, women, the LGBTQ community and the most vulnerable amongst us don’t align with the values of our community,” he said. “He has consistently expressed disdain for the type of diversity that helps define Coachella.”

Hernandez further noted the city was “proud” to welcome Senator Bernie Sanders, during his 2020 presidential run.

While in Chicago, Trump will be accompanied by his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, at an event hosted by Bloomberg at the Economic Club of Chicago.

For Trump, holding a rally at Madison Square Garden, something of a heart for the Democratic supporters in Manhattan, has long been on Trump’s list.

NBC reported a man privy to the event planning noted that Trump’s team had been working on having a rally in New York since the primary elections.

"With 27 days to go, nothing is unintentional," Tricia McLaughlin, a Republican strategist who worked on businessman Vivek Ramaswamy's 2024 presidential campaign. "Might be an optics game play — crowd sizes. Or a psychological game — big crowds on Democratic turf."

"Or maybe, there is a there there," she said. "When I saw the New York rally, I thought, 'Is New Jersey in play?'"