Biden campaign 'taking nothing for granted' as Trump eyes Minnesota

17 May 2024

Minnesota has been a strong state for Democrats in presidential elections. The last GOP presidential nominee to carry Minnesota was incumbent Richard Nixon in 1972, although President Ronald Reagan narrowly lost the state to Democrat Walter Mondale in 1984.

President Joe Biden carried Minnesota by 7 percent in 2020. But National Public Radio (NPR) recently reported that presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, despite having lost the state in 2016 and 2020, believes Minnesota could be in play for him this time. And according to Natasha Korecki and Jonathan Allen of NBC News, Biden's campaign is leaving nothing to chance where Minnesota is concerned.

Korecki and Allen, in an article published on Friday, May 17, explain, "Democrats say former President Donald Trump doesn't stand a chance there. And yet, President Joe Biden's campaign is pushing out top-shelf local Democratic surrogates — Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. Tina Smith — on Friday to counter Trump's visit to the state. That's on the heels of First Lady Jill Biden's campaigning in the state last month."

The reporters add, "All of the attention suggests that both campaigns see Minnesota as an emerging battleground in a race that is likely to be decided in a relative handful of states. Democrats readily concede that a Trump victory there would spell disaster for them across the country. But those in the party who know the state best insist talk of Trump's stealing it is overblown."

Although Walz is confident that Biden will carry Minnesota in November, he also stresses that Biden's campaign isn't being complacent about the midwestern state.

Walz told NBC News, "President Biden will win. No surprise Donald Trump is saying something that is not true…. But we don't take it for granted. We will have the infrastructure necessary. So the head fake of saying that you're going to win Minnesota? Give it a good try, but we'll do our work."

Democratic strategist Dan Kanninen, who is directing the Biden campaign's efforts in battleground states, is also sending out a leaving-nothing-to-chance message about Minnesota.

Kanninen told NBC News, "Fundamentally, what we're doing in Minnesota and Virginia is.… not taking any state or any vote for granted. We've had a team on the ground in both those places, working hard to engage voters, build trust in the community as we open offices, increase our staff footprint. We feel strongly — the Biden-Harris coalition — in both Minnesota and Virginia, which had been strong in the midterms and off-year elections and will continue to be strong for us in the fall of 2024."

Read NBC News' full article at this link.

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