Trump to vote in person for first time as Florida voter

President Donald Trump will vote in person as a Florida resident for the first time Saturday, according to a White House spokesman.

“President Trump plans to early vote on Saturday in West Palm Beach, Florida,” Judd Deere, White House deputy press secretary, told the Miami Herald.

The occasion appears as if it will be part of a

“Trump the Vote” effort around the state to encourage in-person early voting by Republicans, based on events scheduled on his campaign website.

Trump has voted by mail in the two elections that have passed since he declared his private Mar-aLago club in Palm Beach as his and first lady Melania Trump’s permanent private residence late last year. He voted by mail in the presidential primary in March, and again in Florida’s August election.

Trump’s critics called him hypocritical, given his repeated swipes this year at mail voting and his claims — with dubious evidence — that mail voting is rife with fraud. Trump has in recent months attempted to clarify that position, saying Florida mail voting is safe.

Republicans are showing up in big numbers during the first days of early voting in Florida. As of Thursday morning, 483,443 Republicans had voted in person at early voting centers, compared to 392,530 Democrats and 171,960 independent voters.

That’s unusual for Florida, where Democrats have historically outnumbered Republicans at early voting centers.

Democrats, though, continue to hold a big advantage over Republicans in total votes cast due to an unprecedented number of vote-by-mail ballots sent in. As of Thursday morning, 1,533,525 Democrats had cast mail ballots, compared to 979,838 Republicans and 644,511 independent voters.

That, too, is unusual in Florida, where Republicans have historically outnumbered Democrats in mailballot returns.

Trump will vote in Florida on Saturday following a day of campaigning in the must-win swing state. He’ll hold political events Friday in The Villages retirement community in Central Florida and in Pensacola, where he’ll hold a rally.

Vice President Mike Pence will be in Tallahassee on Saturday.

Former President Barack Obama, meanwhile, will campaign for Biden in Miami on Saturday.