Donald Trump has travelled to traditionally Democratic-voting New Mexico and plans to visit Virginia in the campaign’s final days, taking a risky detour from the seven battleground states to spend time in places where Republican presidential candidates have not won in decades.
The former president campaigned in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Friday (AEST) and will visit Salem, Virginia, on Sunday (AEST).
In New Mexico, Trump blamed his poor chances as an example of votes being “rigged”.
“They all said, ‘Don’t come’,” Trump told an adoring crowd. “I said, ‘Why?’ ‘You can’t win New Mexico.’ I said, ‘Look, your votes are rigged. We can win New Mexico’,” he said.
The Trump team is projecting optimism based, in part, on early voting numbers and thinks he can be competitive against Democrat Kamala Harris in both states – New Mexico in particular, if he sweeps swing states Nevada and Arizona. That hope comes even though neither New Mexico nor Virginia has been carried by a GOP nominee for the White House since George W. Bush in 2004.
Over the past few months, the battleground states have seen a constant stream of candidate visits, and residents have been bombarded with political ads on billboards, televisions and smartphones. In the past two weeks alone, presidential and vice presidential candidates have made 21 appearances in Pennsylvania, 17 in Michigan and 13 in North Carolina.
In the 43 other states, a candidate visit is an exciting novelty.
Trump retains fervent pockets of support even in states that have voted overwhelmingly against him, and he can easily fill his rallies with enthusiastic supporters.
with AP
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Publish date : 2024-10-30 13:00:00
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