Republican nominee Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, held a rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota, a state that has not supported a GOP candidate for the White House since 1972. Trump’s focus on Minnesota as a potential battleground state comes as President Joe Biden shows signs of weakness. Trump used the rally to attack Vice President Kamala Harris, accusing her of wanting to defund the police and failing at tasks related to the border. He also criticized Harris for a 2020 post she made supporting protesters after the death of George Floyd.
Trump’s attack on Harris was called “a desperate lie” by a spokesperson for the Harris campaign, who pointed out that Trump himself has been convicted of multiple felonies. Trump also criticized Harris as an “absolute radical” on abortion, wrongly suggesting she supports infanticide. Despite Biden endorsing Harris and ending his own candidacy, Trump’s campaign has continued to target Biden’s pitfalls in an effort to keep them fresh in voters’ minds. Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, also emphasized issues like border security and crime in his speech at the rally.
Trump has been making explicit appeals to voters in Minnesota, particularly in the iron-mining range in northeast Minnesota, hoping to shift blue-collar and union workers to the Republican party. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz poked fun at Trump’s visit to the state, predicting that Trump would lose in 2024 as he did in the previous elections. Trump has survived an assassination attempt and has since held indoor campaign events, but he hinted at potential outdoor stops in the future, with increased security measures.
In addition to the rally in Minnesota, Trump also spoke at a bitcoin conference in Nashville, Tennessee, where he expressed support for embracing cryptocurrency if elected. Trump has shifted his attitude towards cryptocurrency in recent years and his campaign started accepting donations in cryptocurrency. Meanwhile, Harris held her first fundraiser as the likely Democratic nominee, raising over $1.4 million in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The campaign is ramping up efforts as the election enters its final 100-day stretch, with both candidates making strategic moves to rally their supporters and gain momentum.
