Your support helps us to tell the story
Colorado and California are both reliably Democrat-voting states but that’s not stopping Donald Trump from holding campaign rallies in both states this week.
The former president announced he will visit Aurora, Colorado on Friday despite polling 11 points behind Vice President Kamala Harris in the state. Then he will rally in Coachella, California on Saturday even though he has virtually no chance of winning California.
The choice to campaign in two states that have, historically, elected Democratic leadership and voted for the Democratic presidential candidates is eyebrow-raising. But the strategy may motivate Republican or right-leaning voters to cast their ballots even though they don’t live in battleground states.
Trump’s campaign said his Aurora rally will focus on immigration, specifically what they claim is an influx of “violent Venezuelan prison gang members” who have turned the city into a “war zone.”
During rallies, the former president often uses Aurora as an example of a city overrun with violent migrants. Much like his eating pets claim in Springfield, Ohio, Trump’s claim of gang members "taking over the whole town” is based on a viral incident that was blown out of proportion.
Both the Democratic Governor of Colorado and the Republican Mayor of Aurora have said Trump has greatly exaggerated and misrepresented what is actually occurring.
While several Tren de Aragua gang members were involved in isolated criminal incidents, including at two apartment complexes subject to the accusations, police have identified at least 10 gang members and arrested eight.
Residents of the apartment buildings told The Denverite that they were receiving death threats from “would-be-vigilantes” not Venezuelan gang members.
A recent poll from Keating Research found that Harris is leading Trump 53 percent to 42 percent. The last time Colorado voted for a Republican presidential nominee was in 2004 when it cast its electorate to George W. Bush.
At his Coachella rally, Trump will address the high cost of housing, groceries, gas and more that Californians are facing “thanks to Kamalanomics”.
California is the second-most expensive state to live in, according to researchers at the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center.
The former president has promised supporters his economic policies will bring higher wages, more jobs and lower costs of living. However, Trump has yet to unveil a detailed economic plan and so far economists have disputed Trump’s policies will result in his promises.
Trump’s campaign says President Joe Biden and Harris are to blame for high consumer prices, housing costs and gas prices.
“This is the future Harris and Walz want for the rest of America—crippling inflation, unaffordable housing, and sky-high gas prices. If this is the California Dream, it’s every American’s worst nightmare,” Trump’s campaign said.
The last time California voted for a Republican presidential nominee was in 1988 when its electorate went to George H. W. Bush. Harris is leading Trump 60 percent to 34 percent, according to New York Times polling.
Despite being a blue state, more than five million Republicans live in California – a point that a Republican strategist from California told the Los Angeles Times.
Trump’s presence in the two states may motivate supporters to get out and vote anyway and it could help down-ballot races.
