Trump cancels visit to Polish Catholic shrine in Bucks County

Former President Donald Trump has canceled a visit to a Polish Catholic shrine in Doylestown, a representative from his campaign confirmed on Thursday.

Trump’s campaign announced Tuesday that the former president would visit the National Shrine of Our Lady of Częstochowa on Sunday, the same day that Polish President Andrzej Duda was scheduled to visit the significant holy site for Polish Catholics.

However, just two days later, a Trump campaign official announced on Thursday that the former president would no longer attend Sunday’s event.

Duda, Poland’s right-wing leader, is set to attend a Roman Catholic mass at the sanctuary ahead of the unveiling of a monument commemorating the anti-communist Solidarity movement. Duda’s staff he told the Associated Press that they also expect Trump to be present and that the two gentlemen will meet if both are present.

Sunday’s visit was not intended to be a campaign rally. Trump planned to pray at the church and attend the unveiling of a statue outside the shrine, a shrine spokesman said.

Michael Blichasz, president of the Polish American Cultural Center in Philadelphia, said Trump and Duda have been friends for years, even before Trump became president. Trump has also supported the Polish-American community over the years, he added.

But after Trump was targeted in another assassination attempt earlier this week, there was some concern that the former president could be exposed, Blichasz said.

“Maybe that’s okay for the good of everyone,” Blichasz added. “In today’s world, you never know what kind of characters are out there. Maybe it’s better to be careful.”

But Trump’s presence would likely send a message to Polish American voters. Pennsylvania is home to more than 700,000 people of Polish descent — 5 percent of the commonwealth’s population.

During last week’s presidential debate in Philadelphia, Vice President Kamala Harris mentioned Pennsylvania’s Polish Americans, a historically reliable Democratic voting bloc that has shifted to the right in recent years as Republicans They also lobbied for your support.

The visit would be Trump’s second this year in Bucks County, a battleground county where Republicans outnumber Democrats. He held a private fundraiser in the county earlier this year, and his vice presidential candidate, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, He is expected to visit Newtown on September 28..

Trump narrowly lost Bucks County in 2016, and President Joe Biden increased the Democratic lead in the county in 2020. But the county remains one of the former president’s best chances to regain support in Philadelphia suburbs.

This summer, Bucks County became the only county in the area where registered Republicans outnumbered registered Democrats. While Democrats control the county government, voters kept in office U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican with a reputation as a moderate.

Trump’s visit to the state is still scheduled for next week. A rally will be held Monday in Indiana County in western Pennsylvania.