President Donald Trump told a crowd of cheering supporters that he'd be visiting Pennsylvania a lot leading up to the 2020 elections, hinting an acknowledgment that his grip on the state may not be a given.
"I'm here to see you," Trump told a cheering audience at a Monday rally in Montoursville. "But I'll be seeing a lot of you over the next year.
I'll be here a lot. Got to win this state. We've got to win this state. We did great last time."Trump spoke while campaigning for Fred Keller, who is running against Democrat Marc Friedenberg in a special congressional election for Pennsylvania's 12th District being held Tuesday. Republican Rep. Tom Marino, who represented the district, resigned shortly after the new session started.
But the star of the show was undoubtedly Trump, whose name and slogans blazed across the audience. Trump praised Keller, who told the cheering crowd his election was necessary to help Trump win again in 2020. Trump called the special election a "referendum" on his presidency.
Trump spoke glowingly of the size of the audience, saying, "It looks like the Academy Awards used to look before they decided to go political against us." But his hold on Pennsylvania, which carried Trump in 2016, does not seem as sturdy as he would hope.
The president's aides are scrambling to fire up support in the state as well as in Wisconsin and Michigan — two other swing states that supported Trump in 2016. POLITICO reported Monday that Trump's team found the president trailing former Vice President Joe Biden in those three states, though members of the campaign insisted they aren't panicking.
Trump otherwise stuck with his favorite talking points during the rally, touching on health care, the Iran deal and immigration. The president said his administration was outlining "historic, pro-American" immigration reform.
"I must tell you some of it's not going to happen unless you vote for Republicans in the upcoming election," he said. "And I will tell you it's not very far away."
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine