Trump bets on national reach with events far from swing states

With less than a month before the election, Donald Trump is planning a string of campaign stops in states he’s got little chance of winning.

The former president is headed to Democratic enclaves like Aurora, Colorado; Southern California and Chicago over the next few days and announced a rally in New York City just nine days before the vote counting begins on Nov. 5.

He’s still making appearances in the half-dozen swing states that are likely to determine the outcome. But he is spending time and money in places where his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, isn’t devoting as much effort.

The showy events in places Republicans tend to avoid this late in the election do guarantee the former president free media attention that he might not get with another rally in Trump Country. His campaign says that keeping a well-known former president to the most competitive states is an old-fashioned notion.

“It’s national coverage. In the day and age of the internet, the days of just going to a specific state to carry your message are long gone,” senior adviser Chris LaCivita said in an interview.

Other Republican strategists worry that he is wasting time he should be using to shore up votes in the crucial states. They also say that in Aurora, a place that he has falsely claimed is “overrun” by Venezuelan immigrant gangs, that he will be tempted to veer off his economic message.

“That uses up his most precious commodity, which is time,” said Republican strategist Doug Heye, who doesn’t support Trump. “You would want him in a key battleground state or raising money.”

Strategist Karl Rove implored Trump to “stop wasting time” in a Wall Street Journal op-ed last month. If he “continues failing to spell out his second term agenda, swing voters may swing away from him,” Rove wrote.

The Harris campaign this week tweeted sarcastically after Trump announced the rally in their candidate’s heavily Democratic home state: “Oh no. This is extremely concerning for our campaign. Please do not go to Coachella, CALIFORNIA 24 days before the election.”

Trump’s schedule carries some advantages. Events in or near cities where he has hotels or golf courses reduce lodging costs, and allow him to quickly organize press conferences to react to breaking news.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, a close Trump ally, said the strategy has the added benefit of helping candidates further down the ballot.

“He understands that to govern, he has to have the House and the Senate,” Gingrich said. “It’s really important for the team, even if it doesn’t immediately impact the presidential race.”

Trump, who loves a large crowd, also faces the possibility of diminishing returns by trying to deliver massive turnout in just a few states.

Attracting big crowds in places like California and New York is likely to be easier for the campaign, especially if they bring in big-name supporters. Billionaire Elon Musk’s attendance at a recent Pennsylvania rally helped electrify the audience.

The planned New York City event — set for Madison Square Garden - is likely to include other prominent supporters. Trump has mused for years about headlining a major event in the city of his birth, even if no Republican presidential candidate has carried it in 100 years. He bragged again this week that his campaign will be competitive in New York and Democrat-dominated New Jersey, something polls show is unlikely.

This week’s Colorado rally, at the same time, gives Trump another chance to return to immigration, one of his strongest issues, and his false claim about gang warfare taking over the city outside Denver.

“There is nowhere that we won’t go to highlight the issue which is taking place in this country and making sure that everybody knows that under a Trump administration, we’ll finish the border wall that will protect Americans,” adviser Corey Lewandowski said.

Poll data show mixed results for his efforts. A Gallup poll last month showed immigration picked back up as an issue highlighted by voters as important in September after fading in the summer, but it was still short of highs seen early in the year.

A survey of swing-state voters by Bloomberg News/Morning Consult found it holding steady as the second most-important issue.

Joline Fish, a 58-year-old from Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, said she was worried but hopes the strategy would pay off.

“At this point, with a few weeks left, I’m actually concerned,” she said at a recent Trump rally in her state. “I’m just hoping there’s enough of us supporting him.”

Wayne Allen Root, a conservative television and radio host and Trump ally from Nevada, said he recognized the limited time Trump has before Election Day.

“I wish he’d spend more time in every state, but we can’t clone him,” he said.

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(With assistance from Akayla Gardner and Gregory Korte.)