Trump will travel to Montezuma Pass, Arizona, on Thursday, the same day Harris is scheduled to give her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.
The border visit is part of a weeklong offensive that will take the former president to several key states, after weeks of holding just one or two rallies a week. The schedule of events for the Trump campaign and its surrogates also includes daily news conferences, which aides hope will stand in stark contrast to Harris’ campaign, which has yet to hold an official news conference since securing the Democratic nomination.
The increased pace comes as Trump’s campaign has been losing ground to Harris, who has outpaced the former president in national polls as well as in fundraising. Trump’s advisers said they believe forcing the vice president to participate in unscripted settings and policy discussions will ultimately prove detrimental to his campaign.
“As Harris dodges questions from the press and attempts to backtrack on her extreme policies like the Green New Scam and bans on American energy, President Trump and Senator Vance will take their ‘America First’ message to voters in key states across the country,” Trump advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said in a statement.
Harris has occasionally answered questions from reporters and has pledged to conduct a full interview before the end of the month.
In Arizona, Trump is expected to meet with the Border Patrol union and members of the sheriff’s department and participate in a briefing accompanied by officials including the county sheriff and Brandon Judd, who was the former president of the National Border Patrol Council. He will then participate in a walk along the border before attending a listening session with ordinary citizens and offering remarks to reporters, campaign officials said.
Before heading to the border, Trump is expected to hold a rally on Monday in Pennsylvania, a crucial state in the race. Harris is conducting a bus tour of the state over the weekend before heading to Chicago for the convention.
On Tuesday, while Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, are expected to attend an event in Milwaukee, Trump will deliver a speech on “crime and security” in Howell, Michigan. On Wednesday, the day Walz plans to give his acceptance speech, Trump will hold a rally on national security in North Carolina. And after his trip to the border, Trump will attend a rally in Glendale, Arizona.
Harris’ entry into the race has shaken up an already unprecedented 2024 campaign, with Trump running as the first former president to be convicted of a felony, the survivor of a failed assassination attempt during an outdoor rally, and forced to face a new opponent after Biden was removed from the race by a Democratic pressure campaign.
Recent polls have shown a tight race in a campaign in which Trump was previously the front-runner. A poll released Sunday shows Harris leading Trump by a narrow margin in a head-to-head matchup, 49 to 45 percent among registered voters nationally. The same poll, conducted by The Washington Post, ABC News and Ipsos, showed a tie in July when the nominee was President Joe Biden.
#Trump #divert #attention #Harris #visit #border
