USA Today, October 2024
Over the weekend, former President Donald Trump made rare campaign stops in Colorado and California, states he is likely to lose in the 2024 election. In his speeches, he painted dire pictures of the places hosting him. He called Aurora, Colorado a “war zone,” raising alarms about Venezuelan gangs, which the mayor has said are “grossly exaggerated.” He called California a “paradise lost,” accusing Vice President Kamala Harris of making it the state with “the most decay.” Those comments came days after he insulted Detroit at a rally in Detroit.
Trump may be diverting resources away from swing states, not to woo voters, but to send a message to his base elsewhere, according to Northeastern University political science professor Costas Panagopoulos. “It’s certainly not by accident that Trump is in these places, in part because he is trying to create the impression that he’s willing to go into the belly of the beast and do battle and be in unfriendly territory to bring to life an issue that’s near and dear to his campaign,” Panagopoulos told USA TODAY.
