Trump to rally in solid blue California in unorthodox campaign move

Former President Donald Trump is acceptable to clasp a rally successful deep-blue California, portion of an unorthodox run determination successful the final stretch of the neck-and-neck United States statesmanlike race.

The Saturday nighttime lawsuit adjacent the Coachella Valley — champion known for its yearly euphony festival — comes conscionable 22 days up of the November 5 vote.

The last agelong of the predetermination is typically reserved for mad-dash visits to the astir competitory battleground states, which see Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Nevada this year.

That makes Trump’s halt successful California — a Democratic stronghold each but assured to ballot overwhelmingly for Vice President Kamala Harris — atypical. Born and raised successful the state, Harris antecedently served arsenic California’s lawyer wide and remains wide fashionable there.

In the past statesmanlike election, successful 2020, Trump mislaid successful California to Democrat Joe Biden by astir 30 percent points.

In a connection announcing the event, Trump’s run said the halt volition question to underscore that, “under Kamala Harris and her unsafe Democrat allies similar [running mate] Tim Walz, the notorious ‘California Dream’ has turned into a nightmare for mundane Americans”.

The sojourn to the authorities has wide been viewed arsenic an effort to enactment up wider Republican support. That is peculiarly needed successful six cardinal races for the House of Representatives successful California.

Control of some the House and the Senate — the 2 chambers of the US Congress — is up for grabs this predetermination season. And definite legislature districts successful California are tightly divided betwixt Republicans and Democrats.

A triumph successful the six competitory House races could assistance Republicans clasp their clasp implicit the little chamber.

Going to California gives Trump the “ability to swoop successful and leverage this large colonisation of Trump supporters”, Tim Lineberger, who was communications manager for Trump’s 2016 run successful Michigan and worked successful the erstwhile president’s administrations, told the Associated Press quality agency.

He’s “coming present and activating that”, Lineberger added.

The determination whitethorn besides beryllium an effort to boost Trump’s last ballot count. In the US, the victor successful the statesmanlike contention is decided by the Electoral College, a weighted voting strategy successful which states grant electors to the candidates based connected the state-level vote.

Nearly each states grant each their electors successful a winner-takes-all system: Even if a campaigner wins by a tiny borderline successful a fixed state, they person each the electors.

That means that a campaigner tin suffer successful the wide fashionable ballot but triumph successful the Electoral College system, arsenic Trump did successful 2016. In 2020, however, helium mislaid successful some measures to Biden.

Having ne'er won the fashionable ballot has remained a sore taxable for the erstwhile Republican president. California, with its colonisation of astir 40 million, offers the anticipation to crook retired supporters who mightiness not different consciousness it is worthwhile to spell to the polls.

“I judge Donald Trump is coming to California due to the fact that helium wants to triumph not lone successful the Electoral College, but helium wants to triumph the fashionable vote,” Jim Brulte, a erstwhile president of the California Republican Party, told the Associated Press.

Battleground blitz

To beryllium sure, Trump is sandwiching his California sojourn betwixt a halt successful Nevada connected Saturday and a rally successful Arizona connected Sunday, 2 battleground states much emblematic for the last weeks of a statesmanlike campaign.

In Nevada, Trump attended a roundtable with Latino voters, arsenic his run sought to capitalise connected signs that Latino men are progressively turning away from Democrats.

For her part, Harris visited North Carolina, which was precocious devastated by Hurricane Helene. She said her sojourn was “first and foremost to spot however they’re doing successful the aftermath of the hurricane”.

Harris was besides acceptable to beforehand her program for an “opportunity economy” and conscionable with Black assemblage leaders. Trump narrowly won North Carolina successful 2020, but the eastbound authorities has been trending towards Democrats successful immoderate caller polls, buoyed by its ample college-educated and Black population.

Earlier successful the day, Harris released the results of a wellness exam. It said she has “the carnal and intelligence resiliency required to successfully execute the duties of the presidency”.

Releasing wellness exams has agelong been a norm for statesmanlike candidates successful the US, with Harris rapidly underscoring that the 78-year-old Trump has truthful acold not done so.

“It is wide to maine that helium and his squad bash not privation the American radical to truly spot what it is that helium is doing and whether oregon not helium really is acceptable to bash the occupation of being president of the United States,” she told reporters.

Trump’s run has maintained that the erstwhile president “has voluntarily released updates from his idiosyncratic physician” and from the doc who treated him aft an assassination attempt successful July.

“All person concluded helium is successful cleanable and fantabulous wellness to beryllium Commander successful Chief,” his run spokesperson said, portion charging that Harris “does not person the stamina” of Trump.

Source

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies