Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday he will step away from his role as president in key battleground states in the coming weeks, visiting Ohio and Colorado to continue pushing debunked, viral stories that smear immigrant communities in those states.
During a Wednesday evening rally in New York, Trump said he would visit Springfield, Ohio, and Aurora, Colorado, cities that and his companion for vice presidentOhio State Senator JD Vance was singled out as a victim of immigration.
Trump falsely claimed during September 10 presidential debate that Haitian migrants in Springfield were eating residents’ pets. The moderators of the debate corrected that claim, which was also disputed by officials including Republican state governor Mike DeWineYet Trump continues to invoke the city to support his hardline stance on immigration.
Speaking to supporters in Uniondale, New York, on Wednesday, he falsely claimed that migrants were in the city illegally, adding that 32,000 had arrived in the past few weeks.
Estimates from official sources based on government data, the number of arrivals from Haiti since 2020 ranges from 12,000 to 20,000. Most are in the country legally, with multiple fleeting protection statuses granted which allows migrants from certain countries affected by violence and other circumstances to live in the United States.
Trump described Springfield and Aurora — where another rumor was circulating that Venezuelan gangs had taken over an apartment building — as unsafe places, though he had no evidence and might not be able to escape them.
“They need to be a lot tougher,” he said of Springfield city leaders. “I’m going to Springfield and I’m going to Aurora. You may never see me again, but that’s OK. I have to do what I have to do. ‘What happened to Trump?’ ‘Well, he never got out of Springfield.’”
Neither Ohio nor Colorado are among the seven swing states that will decide the outcome of the presidential election, but the stops are intended to underscore that immigration is a key campaign issue for Trump.
Spanish Heritage
During a call with reporters on Thursday to mark Hispanic Heritage Month, Trump’s campaign framed the immigration issue in a very different way.
In a phone call before the election, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican whose parents emigrated from Cuba, said life for all Americans, including Latinos, was better under Trump than under President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee.
Rubio focused on economic factors and fear of crime.
“It’s true for everyone,” he said. “I think it’s especially true in the Latino community because you have to understand that whether it was your parents, your grandparents or yourself, you came here because you wanted a better life. They weren’t happy with their lives elsewhere. It was dangerous. You couldn’t get ahead. So they came to the United States hoping to fulfill their dreams and hopes for themselves and their families.”
At a White House event celebrating Latino Heritage Month on Wednesday, Biden boasted about the job creation for Latino Americans, saying his administration has overseen the “lowest Latino unemployment rate in history.”
Biden has criticized Republican rhetoric on immigration, praising the United States’ identity as a “nation of immigrants” and urging Latino Americans to vote for Harris over Trump in November.
“These are the most important choices in the life of anyone standing here, because it matters,” he said. “The other team doesn’t see the world the way we do. They don’t have the same mindset that we do. They’re the most closed-off people I’ve ever been around.”
White guys
A pro-Harris group representing a different demographic group launched a $10 million ad campaign in key battleground states on Thursday.
According to a press release from the group, White Dudes for Harris released a one-minute video ad, the first in a campaign that aims to raise eight figures. The ad targeted white male voters in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
White men are more likely to vote Republican than other groups and supported Trump by vast margins in his previous run for the White House. His successful 2016 campaign won white men nationwide by a margin of 62% to 32%, according to Pew Research CenterIn 2016, Trump won Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin by 80,000 votes.
The ad begins with a complaint that Trump has ruined the reputation of white men. A male narrator compliments the approach of Harris and vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
“They’re actually talking to people like us—no lectures, no BS,” the voiceover says. “Just real solutions that protect our freedoms and help us take care of the people who matter.”
Oprah and Adelson
The Harris campaign has scheduled a virtual event for Thursday evening with celebrity actress, producer and former talk show host Oprah Winfrey.
Organizers expect the event to reach more than 200,000 people live, with tens of millions more expected to watch clips shared afterwards.
Trump is scheduled to appear with conservative megadonor Miriam Adelson at an event in Washington titled “Fighting Anti-Semitism in America.” Adelson is Jewish and an dynamic supporter of U.S. support for Israel.
Harris will campaign in Georgia and Wisconsin on Friday.
Trump is scheduled to hold a rally in North Carolina on Saturday.
Survey Snapshot
Polls released on Wednesday and Thursday showed mixed feelings about the race results.
Harris and Trump tied at 47% nationwide New York Times/Sienna College Poll which polled likely voters from September 11 to 16. However, in the same poll, Harris was leading in the key swing state of Pennsylvania, 50 percent to 46 percent.
A separate poll by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion found that Keystone State locked at 49%.
Marist found Harris led by 1 point in Wisconsin50% to 49% and 5 points in Michigan52% to 47%.
These states, as well as Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina, will likely decide the outcome of the election.
Nebraska pushed for winner-take-all rule
Despite this, the other two races could be competitive.
Both Maine and Nebraska award two electoral votes to the winner of the state’s popular vote, with the remainder awarded by congressional district.
Purple counties in each state are most likely to go to the candidate who loses statewide, though some Republicans are pushing Nebraska to adopt a winner-take-all system.
Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen we discussed this issue on Wednesday with state senators and the all-Republican congressional delegation in a letter sent Wednesday supporting the winner-take-all approach sent to X.
Nebraska’s electoral votes will almost certainly go to Trump, whose campaign has pressured state officials to abandon the current system.
Ariana Figueroa assisted in the preparation of this report.
