Trump returns to California for a rally in the Coachella Valley

Faith E. Pinho and Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times on Oct 12, 2024

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LOS ANGELES — With just 23 days left until election day and voters already casting ballots, former President Donald Trump is returning to California on Saturday for a rally in the Coachella Valley.

The event is scheduled to take place at 5 p.m. on a polo field at Calhoun Ranch, located just outside the desert city of Coachella.

Trump’s visit to the home state of his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, offers him a chance to bash the liberal policies of the Bay Area native as well as California itself — one of his favorite refrains on the campaign trail.

And the Coachella Valley, home to a thriving agricultural industry and a large population of Latino farmworkers, provides a backdrop for Trump to highlight the region’s water and agricultural needs, as well as immigration. Latinos comprise almost 98% of Coachella, according to the U.S. Census.

The rally venue is located just outside the 41st Congressional District, where Democrat Will Rollins, a former federal prosecutor, is challenging Republican Rep. Ken Calvert. The region will be critical in determining who wins that seat, and potentially which party wins control of Congress.

The visit marks Trump’s second trip to the Golden State in a month, after making a stop to talk to reporters at his Rancho Palos Verdes golf course in September sandwiched between two high-dollar fundraisers in Beverly Hills and the Bay Area.

Trump has announced that he will hold an Oct. 27 rally at Madison Square Garden in New York, another deeply Democratic state. California GOP strategists granted anonymity to discuss the former president’s motivation included the notion that he wanted to increase his share of the popular vote — and despite California’s Democratic tilt, it is home to more than 5 million registered Republicans.

Trump held a rally in Aurora, Colo., on Friday — a state he lost by more than 13 points in 2002. He has falsely claimed that Aurora had been taken over by Venezuelan gang members. He also paid a visit Friday night to Nevada.

On Thursday, while speaking at the Detroit Economic Club, he insulted the city and warned that it foreshadowed what would happen to the nation if Harris is elected president.

“Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s elected president,” Trump said. “We’re not going to let her do that to this country. We’re not gonna let it happen.”

Democrats in Michigan — one of the states likely to determine which party wins the White House — were apoplectic.

“Detroit is the epitome of ‘grit,’ defined by winners willing to get their hands dirty to build up their city and create their communities — something Donald Trump could never understand,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wrote on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter. “So keep Detroit out of your mouth. And you better believe Detroiters won’t forget this in November.”

Republicans from the state were stunned by Trump’s remarks as well.

“Michiganders haven’t been this proud of the city of Detroit since Henry Ford put the world on wheels. The Lions and Tigers are flying high, the city has come back to life, and in comes Donald Trump to crap all over that progress,” said an exasperated GOP strategist who reached out to a Times reporter after hearing the remarks, and was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “I think he shouldn’t be surprised when they reward his comments by giving Kamala Harris their votes. And it won’t just be Detroit residents. It will be hundreds of thousands of voters who are deeply proud of their city.”

Harris said Trump’s remarks about Detroit represent a trend.

“My opponent, Donald Trump, yet again, has trashed another great American city when he was in Detroit, which is just a further piece of evidence on a very long list of why he is unfit to be President of the United States,” Harris told reporters on Thursday in Las Vegas.

Trump similarly criticized Milwaukee in a meeting with House Republicans shortly before the Republican National Convention was held there, in the battleground state of Wisconsin, earlier this year. He has also disparaged Philadelphia and Atlanta, both of which are in states that will determine which party wins the White House.