GOP operative blasts Trump for choosing 'optics and vibes' over winning swing states

09 October 2024

In the final weeks of the 2024 election cycle, former President Donald Trump is all but ignoring the major swing states likely to decide the election, and is instead opting to conduct rallies in deep-blue states he has no chance of winning.

On Wednesday, NBC News reported that the Trump campaign has rallies scheduled at Madison Square Garden in New York City, along with rallies in California, Colorado and Illinois. President Joe Biden won all of those states in 2020 by double-digit margins, and Colorado is the only state to have voted for a Republican presidential candidate in the 21st century, when George W. Bush won the state in 2004.

Because presidents are chosen via the Electoral College instead of by popular vote, the most important states in presidential elections are the most populous, politically divided states. In 2024, that includes states like Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. But Trump's decision to instead spend the final four weeks in states whose electoral votes are already safely in Democratic hands has been criticized by Republican operative Matthew Bartlett.

"This does not seem like a campaign putting their candidate in critical vote rich or swing vote locations — it seems more like a candidate who wants his campaign to put on rallies for optics and vibes, Bartlett told NBC.

However, Bartlett observed that the former president is "the most unorthodox candidate in modern history," and didn't automatically write off Trump's blue state campaign strategy. He opined that Trump could be playing the long game in trying to peel off urban voters, which have long been a pillar of Democratic support.

"In 2016, Trump realigned the party to be much more rural and working class, now in 2024 he is trying to expand his voting base along certain cultural lines that may eat away at traditional Democratic voting blocs," Bartlett said.

The former president campaigning in blue states could be aimed at helping Republicans in tough down-ballot U.S. House races hold on for another two years. Currently, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) has a majority so thin that he can only afford two defections from his conference if he hopes to pass legislation. Democrats would win back the speaker's gavel by flipping just a handful of Republican seats in Democratic states like California and New York.

Also, if Republicans keep the House but lose the White House, they would keep subpoena power and would be able to prevent Harris from passing legislation she campaigning on, like restoring abortion rights and raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans. Should a few swing district Republicans like Reps. Anthony D'Esposito (R-New York) and Mike Lawler (R-New York) hang on, it could keep the House in Republican hands.

Meanwhile, both Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz are campaigning in the battleground state of Arizona, where early voting begins this week. Biden won Arizona in 2020 by less than 11,000 total votes statewide, meaning the Grand Canyon State's 11 electoral votes are effectively up to a coin flip.

Former President Barack Obama is campaigning on Harris' behalf in Pennsylvania, which has 19 electoral votes up for grabs. Obama will begin his tour of the Keystone State in the Democratic stronghold of Pittsburgh before moving eastward toward Philadelphia. The Wall Street Journal reported in August that if either candidate were to win both Georgia and Pennsylvania, they would become the "overwhelming favorites" to win the Electoral College majority.

Click here to read NBC's report in full.

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