Trump to visit battleground states for last-minute rallies week before election

With just a week left for the US presidential election, former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is preparing to address last-minute rallies in battleground states as polls show a tight race between him and his Democratic opponent and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump, on Tuesday morning, gave his remarks at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. He will then head to Allentown in the battleground state of Pennsylvania for a planned rally. At the location in the Keystone state, there are around 300,000 eligible Puerto Rican voters.

Interestingly, the planned event comes just days after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe cracked a poor joke, offending numerous Puerto Ricans, and overshadowed Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally in New York.

Hinchcliffe joked that Puerto Rico, the US territory, is similar to a "floating island of garbage" and added that Latinos "love making babies", drawing a huge backlash.

Kamala Harris’s campaign, too, reacted to the controversy and rebuked Hinchcliffe for his poor choice of humour. Additionally, many Democrats and some Republicans also slammed the joke, calling it plain offensive and racist.

The Trump campaign was quick to elaborate that the comments made by the comedian did not reflect the former president's views, reported CBS News. The damage, however, had already been done. Hours after the derogatory comments were made, Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny threw his support behind Harris.

Both Republicans and Democrats have been fighting to get the attention of the Latino voters this election cycle. In recent years, the Latino vote has leaned Republican, but a good portion still vote for Democrats.

Trump has planned another afternoon rally in Rocky Mount in North Carolina, another battleground state. The former President is also scheduled to make stops in New Mexico, Nevada, Virginia and Milwaukee this week.

On Wednesday, Trump has an afternoon rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, followed by an evening event in Green Bay, Wisconsin with Brett Favre. He continues the week with stops in New Mexico, Nevada, Milwaukee and Virginia.