ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump took advantage of a day off. his hush money trial On Friday, he will headline a Republican fundraiser in traditionally Democratic Minnesota. he boasts He can be carried in November.
After attending his son Barron's high school graduation in Florida, Trump took the stage late as the headliner at the state's Republican Party's annual Lincoln-Reagan dinner in St. Paul.
President Trump declared his appearance an “official expansion” of electoral maps in states expected to be competitive in November, saying, “We're going to win this state.”
“This November, the people of Minnesota are going to tell Crooked Joe Biden — right? 'The Apprentice'? 'You're fired!''' President Trump said, referring to his own previous reality show and the catchphrase he used there.
President Trump boasted that the high tariffs he imposed on foreign steel during his presidency had “reinvigorated” the Iron Range, an iron-mining region in northeastern Minnesota. The area's population is dominated by labor unions and blue-collar workers, and although it used to be a strong Democratic supporter, recent elections have seen an increase in Republican support.
He also launched a profanity-laced attack on President Joe Biden, calling him a “terrible president” who is “destroying our country” and adding, “He's also a horrible human being.”
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President Trump then attacked the president's golf by calling him “not an athlete,” exaggerating his golfing prowess and making other false statements, and used expletives to cause loud laughter and rumblings. It drew no applause.
Trump spent part of the day given by a judge for graduation He is campaigning in Minnesota, a state he claims he can win in a rematch with Biden in November. No Republican presidential candidate has won Minnesota since Richard Nixon in 1972, but in 2016 Trump came close to defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton by 1.5 percentage points.
playing cards I went back to Minnesota several times. in 2020 Biden beat him. The difference was more than 7 percentage points.
“I think this is what President Trump wants to do. He believes this is a state he can win. We believe that to be the case,” Minnesota Republican Party Chairman David Hung said in an interview. Told.
Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota, a Biden ally, said she would be “grasping at straws” if the Trump campaign thought it could win the state.
“The Biden campaign is going to work hard for every vote,” Smith said in an interview. “We're going to talk to voters across the state. But we think Minnesota voters will choose President Biden.”
Associated Press correspondent Julie Walker reports that the Trump trial will be adjourned today so the former president can attend his son's graduation.
Mr. Han co-hosted Friday's dinner with Mr. Trump's state campaign chairman. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, a representative of the central district of Minnesota. Han said Emmer was instrumental in bringing the former president to Minnesota.
The dinner coincided with the party's state convention, and the roughly 1,400 attendees included former Sen. Rudy Boschwitz and other prominent promoters of the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. Mike Lindell, founder of MyPillow, was also included.
Tickets start at $500 and go up to $100,000 for a 10-person VIP table that includes three photo opportunities with President Trump. Han declined to say how much money he expects to raise, but he expects it to be filled to capacity with about 1,400 people.
Han added that all proceeds from dinner tickets will go to the state party, but some proceeds from photo opportunities may go to the Trump campaign. Before Trump's remarks Friday night, Emmer and Han told the audience that fundraising efforts had pushed the state party into debt for the first time in a decade.
“No sham trial can keep President Trump from campaigning. And it certainly won't stop Minnesota from turning red in November,” Emmer said in his remarks.
Experts are divided on whether Minnesota is truly competitive this time around, given Minnesota's history and the strong Democratic field in the state. But Han said there is “huge dissatisfaction with President Biden” in the state, noting that nearly 19% of Democratic voters are in the state. Super Tuesday primaries They marked the ballots as “uncommitted.”it is at least partially protest voting movement Regarding Mr. Biden's response to the Israel-Hamas war that has spread to multiple states.
President Trump on Friday night repeated his false claim that he won Minnesota in the 2020 election, falsely declaring that he won “a landslide in your state.”
There is no evidence of significant wrongdoing in the state.
President Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, graduated from the private Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday morning. The former president attended the graduation ceremony with his wife, Melania Trump, and his father, Viktor Knahus. complained for a long time Judge Juan M. Marchan did not allow Marchan to attend the graduation ceremony until he agreed not to hold court on Friday.
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Price reported from New York. Follow his AP coverage of the 2024 election. https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.
