Why Trump thinks rallying on this 'battleground island' is 'a real good use of his time': report

18 September 2024

Instead of campaigning in the swing states Kamala Harris is taking the lead over Donald Trump at the moment, Politico reported Wednesday why the former president is rallying in New York, where "he has virtually no chance of winning," according to the state's Republican leaders.

"While New York perhaps is not a battleground state, Long Island is a battleground island," State Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, one of five freshman Republicans, told the news outlet. "It does benefit him, because as president, he’s going to need a majority in the House, and those seats that we’re defending on Long Island and around New York are key to that majority."

Politico noted that the Long Island rally "was originally scheduled to coincide with Trump’s criminal sentencing date in Manhattan, and the campaign kept it in place even after the sentencing was postponed, according to a person familiar with the planning who was granted anonymity to speak freely."

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman told Politico that Trump's "got a message for all of his suburbs about American values, and Nassau County’s the first suburb in America."

He added, "And it’s an apropos place to talk about the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Detroit, Phoenix and Atlanta, just to name a few."

However, Democrats say the ex-president's visit is "a political misstep for him," Politico reports.

"I’d love to have him here, because anytime he’s in Nassau County, he’s not in Pennsylvania, he’s not in Wisconsin and Michigan, he’s not in Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina," New York State and Nassau County Democratic Party chair Jay Jacobs told Politico. "So he can stay here. I think it’s a real good use of his time."

Politico's full report is available at this link.