Trump travels to Pennsylvania to campaign for Republican candidates.
Former President Donald Trump will campaign for Republicans in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, his first rally since federal authorities raided his home in Florida last month.
Trump will speak at the Mohegan Sun Arena in support of Doug Mastriano, who is running for governor against Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Schapiro, and Dr. Mehmet Oz, who is running for the U.S. Senate against Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman.
Before Trump’s address, Oz and Mastriano stirred the audience by criticizing Biden and several Democratic initiatives ranging from COVID to immigration.
“I think the Republican Party is the one thing Joe Biden has rebuilt better,” Oz stated.
Supporters of the former president had formed a line in the parking lot several hours before Trump was scheduled to be on stage.
Trump’s visit to Pennsylvania comes just days after President Joe Biden made back-to-back trips to the battleground state, where he condemned Trump and his fellow “MAGA Republicans” as a dominant force in today’s GOP and a threat to American democracy.
“Too much of what is occurring in our country today is not normal,” Biden said in a prime-time speech from Philadelphia’s Independence Hall on Thursday. “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans reflect an extremism that challenges our republic’s core underpinnings.”
Biden’s heightened rhetoric comes as he attempts to reframe the November elections as a choice between those who want to save the “soul of the nation” and those who, in his opinion, is a threat to democracy.
Trump fans waiting in line to hear the former president speak Biden’s speech, saying it motivated them even more ahead of the midterm elections. Evy Mecjes and Debbie Latsha labeled Biden’s remarks “extremely polarizing.”
“We’re suddenly the evil guys.” “We are the terrorists of the United States of America,” Mecjes declared.
According to Latsha, Biden’s address demonstrated how “afraid” Democrats were of Trump’s continued control over the Republican Party.
“They’re terrified of all the people who are rising and whose eyes are being opened, who are waking up to what’s genuinely going on in our country,” Latsha explained. “So let’s see if we can break them down even more and separate people even more. That had nothing to do with unity, I mean.”
They defended Trump supporters, citing school closures during the pandemic and inflation as examples of how Democrats, in their opinion, have harmed Americans.
“People are rising because we’re fed up with how our government treats us, and you know, President Biden does not speak for the people,” Mecjes said.
On Sunday, Biden will return to Pennsylvania, spending part of his Labor Day weekend in Pittsburgh.
While Republicans were widely expected to retake control of both chambers of Congress in this midterm election cycle, recent Democratic legislative achievements and strong economic data have boosted Democrats’ chances of retaining their majorities.
Trump’s rally comes as the fallout from the Aug. 8 FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago residence, where agents collected sensitive information as part of an investigation into his handling of presidential records after leaving office, continues.
Lawyers for the Justice Department and Trump squared off in court Thursday over whether a special master should be appointed to conduct an independent assessment of the Mar-a-Lago materials. Aileen Cannon, the judge, has yet to rule on the case.
Judge Cannon unveiled a thorough inventory of what the FBI seized during the search on Friday. According to the list, certain documents with classification markings ranging from confidential to top secret were discovered mixed in with newspaper clippings, photographs, and other documents.
The inventory also indicated that the government confiscated dozens of folders that were empty but had “CLASSIFIED” banners or were labeled “Return to Staff Secretary/Military Aide.”
Trump has publicly fought back against the investigation, denying any misconduct.
Those waiting in line to hear him speak on Saturday felt Trump was unfairly targeted.
“He did nothing wrong in my opinion. I believe that will come out in the end, but they are only interested in turning people against Trump “said Barbara, a Mountain Top, Pennsylvania voter.
