Just two days before he goes on trial in New York, President Trump is holding a rally in the key swing state of Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania is Biden’s home state, which he narrowly won in 2020 by less than 1.5% of the vote.
In a few hours, President Trump will deliver remarks in the northeastern town of Schnecksville, PA.
It will be his last campaign event before the NY ‘hush money’ trial begins on Monday and Trump becomes the first U.S. president ever to be put on criminal trial.
The bogus NY case will limit Trump’s ability to campaign, but it seems to be having the exact OPPOSITE effect intended, driving up even more support for President Trump!
Ever since this morning in Pennsylvania, a giant, enthusiastic crowd of THOUSANDS of supporters have been showing up to rally for Trump at this final event before he goes to trial.
Check out these clips of the massive crowd:
In 2 days, Trump will become the first President to go on trial
Today, thousands of Pennsylvanians are rallying for him – despite everything
Never seen anything like it pic.twitter.com/DAEt7F6DcD
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) April 13, 2024
Thousands of people lined up in Pennsylvania to see President Trump speak 5 hours from now.
Pennsylvania is undoubtedly Trump Country! pic.twitter.com/GeWkQRBzFe
— Daniel Baldwin (@baldwin_daniel_) April 13, 2024
Pennsylvania is FIRED UP to see 45th & 47th President Donald Trump tonight!! pic.twitter.com/4l8MNxid1k
— Daniel Baldwin (@baldwin_daniel_) April 13, 2024
Line formed for Trump's rally in Schnecksville, Biden's home state in northeast Pennsylvania, the last rally before his NYC trial begins.
Doors expected to open in 15 minutes. pic.twitter.com/O4pFWjO3oK
— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) April 13, 2024
The energy in these videos is just incredible!
Even Burger King in Schnecksville is showing their support for President Trump today, offering him a free Whopper:
Incredible photo https://t.co/wbYpP5X0m7
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) April 13, 2024
Biden is also scheduled to campaign in Pennsylvania this weekend.
Reuters reported on the importance of winning Pennsylvania in the upcoming presidential election:
Former U.S. President Donald Trump heads to the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Saturday for a rally and a fundraiser just days before he is set to go on trial in New York over an alleged hush money scheme.
He will be closely followed by President Joe Biden, who will make three Pennsylvania stops next week, speaking first in his hometown of Scranton about his push to reform the U.S. tax code.
With 19 electoral votes – one of the highest counts among all 50 states – and voters that swing between backing Democrats like Biden and Republicans like Trump, Pennsylvania is a top prize in the 2024 presidential election and is likely to see many more visits in coming months.
Biden won Pennsylvania in 2020 by less than 1.5%, or roughly 80,000 votes, after Trump beat Hillary Clinton there by less than 45,000 votes in 2016. State opinion polls taken in March swing from showing Biden with a 10-percentage-point lead to Trump up 4 points, election data site FiveThirtyEight shows.
Democrats are betting on a strong turnout in Philadelphia and its surrounding suburbs, a region that accounts for 33% of all voting registrations, to offset losses throughout much of the rest of the state. Trump and Republicans are looking to run up huge margins in less populous, largely white counties to offset urban votes.
Biden, who has been to Pennsylvania four times so far this year, will also travel to the Pittsburgh area and Philadelphia over three days, the White House said on Friday.
Trump is expected to be in Manhattan on Monday for the beginning of his first criminal trial, a case involving hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. The trial could last several weeks.
Trump’s Saturday rally at Schnecksville Fire Hall targets the Lehigh Valley, a mix of Rust Belt cities, sprawling suburbs and rural towns. It includes Northampton County, one of two counties Biden flipped in 2020, which has long been a reliable bellwether of statewide success.
“If you win Northampton County, you are likely to win the state. It’s that important of a location,” Chris Borick, a political science professor at Pennsylvania’s Muhlenberg University, said of Trump’s rally.
AP also said:
Donald Trump’s rally set for Saturday night in northeast Pennsylvania, an area President Joe Biden considers home turf, will be the Republican’s last one before his criminal hush money trial begins Monday.
The presumptive GOP nominee and former president is scheduled to speak at the Schnecksville Fire Hall in Lehigh County. It will be Trump’s third visit this year to the vital swing state, one that could decide who wins this year’s presidential race. He also plans to attend a fundraiser in nearby Bucks County before the event.
Pennsylvania is a critical battleground in the rematch between Trump and Biden, with both candidates expected to visit the state frequently through November. Trump flipped the state to the Republican column in 2016 but lost it four years after to Biden, who was born in the northeast city of Scranton and has long talked about his roots in the city. Biden plans to deliver a major address Tuesday in Scranton on tax fairness.
Trump is navigating four separate criminal prosecutions while running to avenge his loss to Biden, creating an unprecedented swirl of legal and political chaos.
Jury selection starts Monday in New York in his trial where he is charged with seeking during his 2016 campaign to bury stories about extramarital affairs by arranging hush money payments.
It will be the first criminal trial ever of a former U.S. president. And it will limit Trump’s availability on the campaign trail, though he is expected to speak to the media after court often and has for months fundraised and campaigned on the felony charges he faces, arguing political opponents are pursuing them to stop him from winning the White House again.
President Trump is scheduled to begin speaking at 7 PM EST.
You can watch the full rally live here:
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