Trump angling for swing state votes
YUMA, Ariz. — Grappling for votes — and the spotlight — as Democrats hold their national convention, President Donald Trump reached back Tuesday to the signature issue of his 2016 campaign to deliver a broadside against Democratic rival Joe Biden over immigration.
As Democrats gathered virtually, Mr. Trump targeted voters in a pair of key swing states and sought to curry favor with women voters by pardoning Susan B. Anthony, a leader in the women’s suffrage movement.
In Arizona, one of the top 2020 battleground states, the president sought to paint a Biden victory in apocalyptic terms, insisting “the survival of our nation is at stake” in November, as he slammed what he hyperbolically labeled the “insane and lethal policies” of his opposition.
“Biden’s plan is the most radical, extreme, reckless, dangerous and deadly immigration plan ever put forward by a major party candidate,” he said. “It must be defeated. And it will be defeated on Nov. 3.”
Mr. Trump repeatedly mischaracterized Mr. Biden’s views on immigration, which are more centrist than many others in his party. Mr. Biden, for instance, does not support abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and he argues that crossing the U.S. border illegally should be criminally prosecuted rather than made a civil offense, as many other top Democratic presidential hopefuls proposed.
With his second campaign trip in two days, Mr. Trump was hoping to halt an expected convention polling bump for his rival and shore up support with his focus on immigration, one of the most important issues to his political base. He was also trying to stanch an erosion in support among female voters with a symbolic nod on the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment.
In recent weeks, Mr. Trump has been trying to build support within the pivotal female voter constituency and has stepped up his events aimed at women. His campaign has launched another “women for Trump” bus tour, and the president has embraced a “law and order” message with renewed vigor.
The president also worked in a last-minute stop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for a briefing about damage from the derecho last week that has left thousands without power and caused catastrophic damage across the battleground state.