***Live Updates*** Trump Holds PA Rally

President Donald Trump speaks at a rally endorsing the Republican ticket in Pennsylvania o
AP Photo/Keith Srakocic
Tony Lee

President Donald Trump will hold a campaign rally in Montoursville, Pennsylvania, on Monday evening days after former Vice President Joe Biden kicked off his 2020 presidential bid with a rally over the weekend in Philadelphia.

Trump will campaign for Fred Keller, who is running against Democrat Marc Friedenberg in Tuesday’s special election (PA-12) for the House seat vacated by former Rep. Tom Marino (R-PA). But his appearance in Pennsylvania is more of a response to Biden, whom Trump, for some reason, keeps elevating and is already treating like his general election opponent.

Trump carried Pennsylvania in 2016, but the former vice president leads Trump (53%-42%) in the most recent Quinnipiac Pennsylvania poll. Biden, who has been on the wrong side of nearly every issue of importance to left-wing activists, has made electability the central argument of his campaign. And in that Quinnipiac poll, 61% of registered Democrats in Pennsylvania said they believe Biden “has the best chance of beating Trump,” compared to just 6% for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

Though 54% of Pennsylvanians in the Quinnipiac poll disapprove of Trump’s job performance, 54% of voters in the Keystone State believe they are better off financially today than they were in 2016. Perhaps aware of these strong economic numbers, Biden said over the weekend that an “angry” Democrat will not defeat Trump in 2020.

When it comes to issues like trade, Trump and Biden’s more populist opponents on the left will likely hammer the former vice president with similar lines of attacks. Trump has also been making the argument that globalists and nations that want to take advantage of America like China want Biden to become the next president so they can continue to “rip off” the United States.

Stay tuned to Breitbart News for live updates throughout the evening. All times eastern.

—

8:20 PM: Trump says Biden was born in Pennsylvania but he “he left you for another state” and “he didn’t take care of you because he didn’t take care of your jobs.” Trump says Biden let other countries “rip off” America. Trump doesn’t elevate Biden as much as he has in previous events. One can only wonder why he keeps elevating Biden if he is the candidate his team fears the most.

8:15 PM: Trump says what Democrats did (spying on his campaign) was “treason” and it should never happen ever again. He blasts the greatest hoax ever perpetuated on this country (Russia collusion hoax).

8:05 PM: Trump says Democrats’ immigration policies protect smugglers, criminals, and illegal aliens. He mocks his critics who have admitted there  is an emergency at the border after insisting that there was no emergency for years. Trump says Democrats have gone “nuts” and have never been more further from the mainstream. He says Democrats who signed onto Sanders’ Medicare for All bill want to take away private health care. Trump says Republicans are the party of the American worker, family, and American dream.

(Third person falls ill, Trump jokingly blames the lights. Says they are too bright and a “genius” must have purchased them.)

8:03 PM: Trump now slams Fox News for hosting “Alfred E. Neuman and says the network is bringing on more Democrats than Republicans lately.

8:01 PM: Trump says no betrayal has been worse than the Democrats’ betrayal of American workers re: open borders policies. Trump says illegal immigrants are overcrowding schools, hospitals. He says Democrats claim they want to take care of the poor but Democrats are making the poor poorer.

“Our country is full,” Trump says. “Our country is packed to the gills. We don’t want them coming up.”

7:58 PM: Trump blasts politicians who voted for NAFTA and decided to admit China into the WTO. Trump says the factories (60,000 lost because of bad trade policies) and the jobs are coming back under his administration. Trump touts the benefits of steel and aluminum tariffs and the jobs they have brought back to Pennsylvania.

7:55 PM: Trump says a lot of his potential opponents are “vicious” but “low energy.” He now says Democrats learned that “spying on Trump” didn’t work out too well.

7:53 PM: Trump mocks “Sleepy Joe,” says he wants to save every country except America. Trump says he has saved America, made America great again, and will keep America great after talking about confronting China on trade.

7:49 PM: Trump again going after Hillary Clinton for saying his supporters were “irredeemable” and “deplorable.” Trump now talks about opposing the Trans Pacific Partnership deal that would have “destroyed” Pennsylvania and withdrawing the U.S. from it. He also brings up NAFTA, which he says was a “disaster.” Biden is vulnerable on trade, and Trump is starting his line of attack on him. Trump says foreign leaders “like” Biden and want him to be president so they can rip off America even more. He says foreign countries liked it better when they could push us around for the privilege of handing over “our jobs” and “our wealth.” Trump says the previous administration should be “ashamed” of themselves for what they did to America.

Trump mocks Biden’s campaign launch event, saying the crowd was about “150” people even though it was announced well in advance. He says there are thousands at his rally that was put together at the last minute.

7:42 PM: Trump blasts the “Socialist wackos” on the left who want to raise taxes and knock down and rebuild all buildings in Manhattan.

7:40 PM: Trump says he is 1-0 and talks about not getting enough credit for helping Republicans keep the Senate in 2018. He says “Make America Great Again” is probably the greatest political slogan of all time. He says since the military is so powerful and the country is now taking on countries like China on trade, he has to decide to keep the slogan or change it to “Keep America Great.” Crowd seems to like “Keep America Great” when Trump polls them. He says he’ll keep the hat the same color.

“Our country is respected again,” Trump says. He says all you have to do is speak to China, Japan, and countries in the European Union.

7:27 PM: Trump promises to come back many times to the Keystone State during the 2020 election cycle. “I’ll be here a lot. Gotta win this state,” Trump says before blasting “suppression” polls meant to keep his voters home.

7:25 PM: Trump again mentions the record-low unemployment rates for Hispanics, African Americans, Asian Americans. He says it will be tough for a Democrat to debate him on the economy. Trump asks: “How he hell do you this election?”

7:20 PM: Trump talks about steel coming back like never before and says the unemployment rate in Pennsylvania has hit an all-time low. He says “that’s pretty tough to beat.” Trump says he ended the Obama administration’s eight-year war on Pennsylvania’s energy industry. Crowd chants “four more years!”

6:50 PM: Trump is about to land shortly. Rally should start soon.

 

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.