Former President Donald Trump‘s campaign stop in Coachella, California, on Saturday marks a sharp departure from the usual stumps in the seven battleground stops that will determine the next president of the nation.
The stop in the California desert, known for its yearly music festival, will likely make no difference in flipping the reliably Democratic state red. However, there are strategic advantages for Trump and the down-ballot Republicans.
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California is home to six competitive House races, with Trump stumping in the state’s 41st Congressional District, currently represented by Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA).
Calvert is currently in a tight race for reelection against Democratic challenger Will Rollins. Trump’s campaign stop could help Republicans galvanize voters ahead of the election.
“We have a lot of support in California, and I felt I owed it to them,” Trump recently said on The John Kobylt Show, which is based in Southern California.
The stop will almost certainly gain Trump more media attention in the final homestretch of the presidential race, which is expected to remain closely contested. It will also give him access to donors in the state who can pad his financial coffers.
Latino voters, a sizable portion of the state’s electorate and a majority of Coachella’s population, are also a prime target for Trump’s visit. Polling from UC Berkeley and the Los Angeles Times showed Harris’s support among Latinos decreasing.
According to the survey, Harris leads Trump among California Latinos 54% to 35%, but that is a sharp downturn from President Joe Biden, who won 75% of California’s Latino vote.
Trump will likely blame Harris for the “California Dream” into a “nightmare” as he blasts her for rising grocery and gas prices.
Coachella Mayor Steven Hernandez slammed Trump’s visit ahead of the Saturday rally.
“Trump’s attacks on immigrants, women, the LGBTQ community, and the most vulnerable among us don’t align with the values of our community,” Hernandez wrote in a social media post. “He has consistently expressed disdain for the type of diversity that helps define Coachella. We don’t know why Trump is visiting, but we know he wasn’t invited by the people who live here. He ain’t like us.”
The stop in California follows Trump’s previous campaign rally in Aurora, Colorado, another reliably blue state, and a future rally in New York’s Madison Square Garden.
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In Aurora, Trump announced he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 under a program he has dubbed “Operation Aurora” to deport immigrant gang members. He also blasted Harris for the growing border crises.
New York is also home to seven competitive House races that could decide control of the House, which Republicans hope to keep in their control.
