Pennsylvania is a must-win state for Donald Trump if he is to win the 2024 presidential election, something he acknowledges given his comments at Saturday’s rally in Erie.
In unevidenced claims focused on personality rather than policy, Donald Trump labeled President Joe Biden “crooked” before calling him a “dumb son of a *****” and “the most corrupt president in American history.”
Playing the victim – a tactic which has struck among voters – Donald Trump alleged that the media “refuse to discuss the Biden crime family, but enjoy covering false indictments of Donald Trump, who has done nothing wrong.”
It’s this bullish language that strikes a chord with his supporters. It’s a unique characteristic not used by many politicians in Western democracies – certainly not those within serious contention for the top job within their country – but one which is part of Trump’s appeal.
What did Donald Trump say?
Despite two indictments, with potentially more on the horizon, Trump spoke as if it was everyone else at fault rather than the man under criminal investigation.
However, the former president’s popularity among voters has only soared, rather than suffered, since his indictments, and he now uses them as a method to gain support by portraying himself as the victim of a witch hunt.
Addressing supporters, Trump declared: “They waited two and a half, almost three years so that they could bring them right in the middle of my presidential election, because it’s election interference.”
Having called special counsel Jack Smith a “deranged lunatic” and compared his appearance to “Central Casting”, Trump then went after cities run by his political opponents.
“They’re all bad, run by Democrats all bad — every one of them is horrible,” he said of Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Chicago.
Trump also repeated unverified claims from an unnamed South American psychiatrist regarding “disease-ridden” people “from insane asylums” flocking to the U.S.
Blaming Biden for the alleged influx, Trump said: “We have somebody that’s not at the top of his game, never was at the top of a game. Never was.”
“We have a guy who’s a dumb son of a ***** to allow this to happen… Every dollar spent attacking me by Republicans is $1 given straight to the Biden campaign if he makes it.”
Why Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania has become a key swing state in Trump’s previous election campaigns.
The winner of the state – now down by one to 19 electoral votes – has gone on to win the race to 270 in every election since 2004.
Trump’s comments are often picked up by national media, but by making such remarks as he did on Saturday, the former president is almost certain to make the front page of Pennsylvania’s newspapers, or feature at the top of the hour on local news broadcasts.
His speeches will grab headlines, and with headlines comes attention. If he is to win the presidential election, he needs to get his message out there to resonate with voters.
It is a bold strategy, but one that the polls suggest is working.
Shay Bottomley is a British journalist based in Canada. He has written for the Western Standard, Maidenhead Advertiser, Slough Express, Windsor Express, Berkshire Live and Southend Echo, and has covered notable events including the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
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