Donald Trump embarked Friday on a series of rallies in battleground states, moving to recover from one of the worst weeks of his campaign with the same formula that made him the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
The Trump campaign scheduled rallies Friday in Richmond, Virginia, Saturday in Tampa, Florida, and Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, followed by a Monday rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
The events will test Mr. Trump’s message discipline after a week in which his comments about a federal judge’s Mexican heritage were labelled “racist” by both Democrats and Republicans.
“Trump needs to get back on his economic message,” said Democratic campaign strategist David “Mudcat” Saunders, who argued that the billionaire businessman has an advantage over likely Democratic presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton on pocketbook issues.
“There’s no question at all in my mind. We are in a new age of economic populism and that rules supreme,” he said.
The real estate tycoon locked up the GOP nomination with the help of massive rallies in primary states that command live TV coverage and energized his supporters.
His foray into battleground states for more big rallies after the end of the primaries this week signaled he intended to stick to that winning strategy.
Mr. Trump also is looking for a boost after a difficult week in which he was rebuked for saying the ethnicity of U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was born in Indiana to Mexican parents, created a possible conflict of interest in a civil fraud case involving Trump University.
Mr. Trump is being sued by students who claim they were ripped off by the Trump University, which teaches courses in real estate strategies.
As Mr. Trump scrambled to quell the flap without offering an apology, Mrs. Clinton secured enough delegates to win the Democratic nomination and began moving to unite her party, including picking up an endorsement from President Obama and left-wing champion Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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