Former president Donald Trump is gearing up for an all-out sprint to finally take back the White House.
Caught flat-footed when Democrats switched horses this summer, Trump held 26 campaign events this month — most of them rallies — up from the 21 he attended in June and July, according to an analysis of his schedule by NBC News. The ramp-up began in August with 19 events.
While it’s traditional for campaigns to rally after Labor Day, some Republicans are worried that Trump will allow the Democratic nominee for vice president. Kamala Harrisjump on him as he storms the country in August after taking office at the top of the party’s ticket for President Joe Biden. Now Trump is racing against Harris and the clock.
“They’re doubling down on this because they know they’re doing away with that 100-day window,” said Ford O’Connell, a Republican strategist. “Basically, you’re fighting for inches on the electoral map. At the end of the day, no one knows for sure what will put one campaign over another.”
In late summer, similar roadblocks to campaign progress played out in Trump’s 2016 and 2020 presidential runs.
for allies who are complained of a slow start This summer, Trump’s fast pace is prompting nagging questions about whether the campaign is ready to run against Harris after dropping Biden from the race. It’s the poll that puts Trump on a stronger trajectory after Harris quickly set fundraising records and erased his lead among voters, allowing Trump supporters to gauge the likelihood of a November victory.
Trump held two rallies over the weekend in the battleground states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. In both, he made increasingly personal attacks on Harris, unreasonably questioning his mental health and calling him “mentally retarded.” At a rally in Pennsylvania, he called for Harris to be “impeached and prosecuted” for his policies on the US border with Mexico.
A campaign official said Trump was more to blame for the events, saying Trump should have had a slow Sunday but instead insisted, “We’ve got to do something,” which led to a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Several high-level events await Trump in the coming days. On Monday, he is set to visit the state of Georgia, which was hit hard by Hurricane Helene. Visits by politicians to storm-ravaged areas are always a gamble, as such high-profile visits risk straining resources in communities still trying to rebuild. Neither Biden nor Harris have visited the area since the storm.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, will not attend Trump’s event on Monday, an aide told NBC News.
on saturday Trump plans to return to Butler, Pennsylvania. to hold an event at the place where he was shot during the July 13 assassination attempt.
For Trump, frequently campaigning with both candidates is not without problems achieves unprecedented levels of security After two assassination attempts on Trump.
The Trump campaign wanted to hold an outdoor rally in Wisconsin on Saturday, but Secret Service officials said they would not have access to the manpower or assets needed to hold an outdoor airport rally while the United Nations General Assembly convenes in New York. , according to senior Secret Service officials and an official familiar with the planning.
On Saturday, Trump thought up to 50,000 people would have attended his rally in Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin, if it had been allowed outdoors.
Looking ahead to the final month before Election Day, the Trump campaign expects to hold two to three rallies a week, several smaller policy-based events, retail stops at local stores and town halls, hosted by campaign surrogates, and meets with Trump campaign officials. planning said.
“Nobody works harder in the game of politics than President Trump, especially in the fourth quarter,” Trump campaign national press secretary Carolyn Leavitt told NBC News. “President Trump and Senator Vance will continue to outdo Harris and Waltz in the media and deliver their winning message to voters across the country to make America rich, safe and strong again.”