Former President Donald Trump kicked off a weekend-long push in battleground Pennsylvania on Saturday with a rally in a suburb of Pittsburgh with less than three weeks until Election Day.
The Trump campaign is spending the weekend in Pennsylvania, a state that could be the key to winning the White House, and where Mr. Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are deadlocked in a tight race.
Both campaigns are vying for the Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes, and Ms. Harris is trying to maintain Democrats’ grip on the state that President Biden flipped in 2020.
“You have to tell Kamala Harris that you’ve had enough, that you just can’t take it anymore,” Mr. Trump told rally attendees in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. “We can’t stand you. You’re a sh– vice president, the worst. You’re the worst vice president, Kamala, you’re fired. Get the hell out of here.”
Mr. Trump’s two-day swing through the state started with a rally in Latrobe, a town of about 8,000 roughly 40 miles outside of Pittsburgh, and will continue with a town hall in Lancaster, PA on Sunday, and culminating with a stop at the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets game on Sunday night.
In Philadelphia, the Trump campaign is hosting a Black Men’s Barbershop Talk Roundtable with one of the campaign’s top surrogates, Rep. Byron Donalds, Florida Republican.
His speech opened with a lengthy anecdote about legendary pro golfer Arnold Palmer, a Latrobe native, whom he called a “friend” and said was “all man,” and then returned to Mr. Trump’s normal stump schtick, including attacks on Ms. Harris for her handling of the border, leaning into her support of the Green New Deal, and his favorite topic: enforcing tariffs.
“The word tariff is the most beautiful word in the dictionary, more beautiful than love, more beautiful than respect, no, less beautiful than religion,” Mr. Trump said. “I don’t want to get into that argument, but the word tariff is the most beautiful word in the dictionary.”
Meanwhile, the Harris campaign spent two straight days in battleground Michigan, where she deployed pop star and Detroit native Lizzo to stump for her. Ms. Harris will then head for another swing state, Georgia, Saturday night to hold a rally with R&B star Usher.
Mr. Trump’s stop in Latrobe included former Pittsburgh Steelers Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown, who in his brief remarks lauded the former president and ripped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, telling the audience “he isn’t a real football coach, he could never guard me.”
Other stump speeches came from members of local steelworkers unions, Pennsylvania Republican Reps. John Joyce and Dan Meuser, Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican and Republican Senate candidate David McCormick, who is running against longtime Democratic Sen. Bob Casey.
Mr. Casey, who is seeking a fourth term, has consistently led against Mr. McCormick, and is ahead of his Republican opponent by an average of nearly 4 points, according to Real Clear Polling.
Earlier in the week, Elon Musk made his first solo appearance on behalf of Mr. Trump in the suburbs of Philadelphia, where he encouraged people to register to vote and to vote early, which is another sign of the softening stance that the Trump campaign has had against the practice.
Mr. Musk, who has become a prominent surrogate for the former president since endorsing him this Summer, will be appearing at a string of town halls throughout Pennsylvania in the waning days ahead of Nov. 5.
Early voting is underway in nearly every state across the country, including the Keystone State, and other battleground states of Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada and Arizona.
Democrats appear to have the edge over Republicans in early voting. Of the 11.8 million ballots cast early, 5.9 million are from Democrats and 4.5 million are from Republicans as of Saturday, according to data-collection firm TargetSmart.
Mr. Trump similarly urged rally attendees to vote early.
“If we win Pennsylvania, we win the whole damn thing,” Mr. Trump said.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.