Trump Will Spend Every Day Until Election in North Carolina, Here's Why?

Washington: Donald Trump will rally in rth Carolina every day until Tuesday's election, a flurry of late activity in only swing state that he won in both his 2016 and 2020 campaigns.

Even as Trump looks to expand electoral map and project strength with trips to New Mexico and Virginia, two Democratic states t widely viewed as competitive, he is putting considerable time into rth Carolina, which last backed a Democrat for president in 2008.

former president's path to 270 electoral votes needed to capture presidency gets significantly more complicated if he loses rth Carolina. fast-growing Sourn state gave Trump his smallest margin of victory — 1.3 percent points — over Democrat Joe Biden four years ago.

Trump will campaign in Gastonia, west of Charlotte, and Greensboro on Saturday, with a stop in Salem, Virginia, in between. He will be in eastern city of Kinston on Sunday and in Raleigh on Monday. Those four rallies will bring his total events in rth Carolina since October 1 to nine. His running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has been in state six times during same period, most recently on Friday.

kamala Harris in rth Carolina

Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump's Democratic rival, will also be in rth Carolina on Saturday for a concert and rally in Charlotte. Her campaign has t anunced any or travel to state before Election Day.

extensive dam from Hurricane Helene across western rth Carolina has created a dose of uncertainty about state of play here. Flooding destroyed homes and displaced residents in several counties, including liberal city of Asheville and conservative rural areas surrounding it.

Trump's Rally in rth Carolina

Trump's team has said it is confident about his chances in rth Carolina. Democrats see Trump's attention on state as a signal of optimism for Harris.

“ repeat appearances may signal Trump's campaign is in trouble,” said Democratic state Rep. Marcia Morey of Durham. “If Trump continues with his dangerous, violent rhetoric se last few days, it may backfire. A campaign of personal retribution does t win votes from people.” Trump viser Jason Miller said Trump's late-campaign travels are t a signal of alarm.

“I'm t worried about anything," Miller told reporters Friday. "We have a smart strategy that's going to get President Trump across 270, maybe even a couple of states that surprise you, that slide in re. But we're going to follow our strategy. Our strategy comes from our data and our targeting.” Roughly half of rth Carolina's 7.8 million registered voters h alrey voted as of Friday, buoyed by early in-person voting, which ends on Saturday afteron.

rth Carolina Republicans have been encourd by early voter turut among ir supporters after national and state GOP leers switched this year to a “bank your vote” strategy, rar than focusing on Election Day turut.

Entering final days of campaign, over 50,000 more GOP registered voters than Democrats h voted early or by absentee ballot, even though re are over 100,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans statewide, according to state elections data. It is unclear wher Republicans' early vote surge will result in a higher overall turut for Trump supporters.

Independent voters w make up largest group of registered voters in rth Carolina. Trump lost ground with independents between 2016 and 2020.

state's voters have shown a propensity to split ir ticket over years. That's why while Republicans have controlled state legislature since 2011, Democrats have held goverr's mansion for all but four years since 1993.

GOP's hopes to break that hold on Tuesday appeared to dwindle in recent weeks after party's minee for goverr, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, received unwanted publicity from a CNN report that alleged he me explicit racial and sexual posts on a porgraphy website's mess board more than a dece ago.

While Robinson denied writing messs and sued CNN for defamation last month, his campaign nearly imploded, raising fears that a large victory by Democrat Josh Stein, state's attorney general, could harm GOP candidates in or races. 

With PTI Inputs