Three Takeaways from Former President Donald Trump’s Western Pennsylvania Rally

Former President Donald Trump returned to Pennsylvania on Monday for the 12th time this election to hold a rally outside Pittsburgh, where he told thousands of supporters that if he takes back the White House, he would stem the flow of migrants into the country and be a “defender” of women.

Trump’s return to what is once again a key swing state comes as polls show him narrowly trailing Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race among Pennsylvania voters, and his disadvantage among female voters is growing.

“If we win Pennsylvania, we win everything,” the GOP candidate said at Ed Fry Arena at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, about an hour east of Pittsburgh, repeating comments he made in Wilkes-Barre last month. “It’s very simple.”

» READ MORE: Harris now has a slight lead over Trump in Pennsylvania.

In the 90-minute speech, Trump sought to win women’s votes, repeated baseless and debunked claims about migrants and said Harris was a threat to American democracy, prompting attacks on him from Democrats.

Earlier in the day, Trump appeared at the Protecting America Initiative, an anti-China group founded by a former Trump administration official, in Smithton, Pennsylvania, and also visited Sprankle’s Neighborhood Market in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, where he called out rising grocery prices under President Joe Biden.

Before Trump’s speech, Harris campaign officials criticized Trump, saying he was bad for Pennsylvania workers.

“Vice President Harris is committed to building an economy where working families don’t just have to make ends meet, but can get ahead,” said Angela Ferritto, president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO.

Here are three takeaways from Trump’s rally in Indiana.

Trump promised to be a ‘defender’ of women

Trump, whose nominations to the U.S. Supreme Court helped overturn the Roe v. Wade ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion, has sought to reinforce his weakness in the eyes of female voters.

Under Biden, Trump said women were “significantly poorer,” “less healthy” and more “depressed and unhappy” than during his presidency. In a hushed tone that contrasted with his usual bombast, Trump vowed to change all that.

“You will be protected, and I will be your defender,” the Republican candidate said. “Women will be happy, healthy, confident and free. You will no longer think about abortion. That is all they talk about — abortion — because we did something that no one else could do.”

Trump, apparently worried that his choice of words might be seen as sexist, added: “As president, I have to be your protector. I hope you don’t make too big of a deal out of it,” he said. “I hope the fake news doesn’t say, ‘Oh, he wants to be your protector.’”

Trump has also said he supports in vitro fertilization, or IVF, distinguishing himself from many anti-abortion activists on the religious right who oppose the fertility treatment.

“We want you to have your beautiful, beautiful, perfect baby,” Trump said. “We want those babies and we need them. And I will protect women at a level never seen before. They will finally be healthy and hopeful and safe and confident. Their lives will be happy and beautiful and wonderful again, and that is an honor.”

Trump continued to spread lies about immigrants

Trump repeated debunked lies about Venezuelans taking over an apartment building in Aurora, Colorado, reported by conservative media but denied by local police.

“They’re taking over properties,” Trump said. “They’re really just like me, but they’re taking over with weapons. I took over with brains. But they’re right in the middle of it, Aurora. And they have weapons that the military doesn’t even have. AK-47s. I found out about AK-47s three weeks ago. It’s not pretty — I’m getting really good at learning about weapons. I’m learning about weapons.”

Trump also said migrants were destroying Springfield, Ohio, but did not repeat the false narrative about Haitians eating pets that he advanced during a Sept. 10 debate in Philadelphia.

» READ MORE: Charleroi Republican State Senator Defends City’s Haitian Immigrants as Trump Allies Continue to Spread Lies

He also cited Charleroi, Pa., falsely claiming the city’s population had grown by 2,000% because of migrants. Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick recently posted the same incorrect statistic on X.

Charleroi, a city of around 4,200 inhabitants, has welcomed between 700 and 2,000 fresh immigrants in the last few years, according to Politifact. That’s less than a 50% raise. A 2,000% raise in total population would bring the city to 88,000 people.

Trump Launches Attacks on Harris’ Past Energy Positions

Trump has talked a lot about television programming

Trump showed a clip of Harris, the Democratic candidate, appearing on the show The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in which she backed a Green New Deal plan to combat climate change and promised to ban fracking.

The clip was meant to convey the message that Harris’ energy policies would be bad for Pennsylvania workers. But Trump first took a long detour to share his thoughts on various TV hosts and shows.

He said the network’s three biggest late-night hosts — Fallon, Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel — were “dying,” apparently referring to their viewership. Trump then recounted how he initially disliked Fox News late-night personality Greg Gutfeld because the host had criticized him in the past.

“When they don’t like me, I don’t like them, OK? That sounds childish,” he said. “That’s what it is. Let’s call it a personality defect.”

Still, he agreed to appear on Gutfeld’s show, and now Gutfeld’s ratings are much higher, Trump said.

He then praised many of Fox’s news and opinion hosts before complaining that the network sometimes airs “bad ads,” apparently referring to ads attacking Trump after his appearances. He also said he didn’t like it when Fox featured panels that included people who disagreed with the MAGA platform.

“Fox should only put good people on it, people who want to make America great again,” he said. “They shouldn’t put bad ads on it.”

Journalist Fallon Roth contributed to this article.