Former President Donald Trump claimed on Sunday that he can win more than the seven expected swing states, offering Virginia, New Mexico, and New Jersey as states that may offer possible victories on Election Day despite his campaign’s relative lack of resources spent there.
Trump on Sunday predicted the possible victories after to NBC News reporter Dasha Burns raised an outlier poll of Iowa voters that found Vice President Kamala Harris winning the state.
After the former president argued the oversampled Democrats, Burns reported Trump later referenced his appearance last week in New Mexico as evidence of an expanding electoral map for the Republican Party.
“When I went to New Mexico, you saw that crowd? It was an amazing crowd. And it was a weekday morning in New Mexico,” Trump told Burns.
Trump reportedly told Burns, “I think I have a chance,” after he was asked if he thought victory was possible in the state that last voted for a Republican presidential candidate in 2004.
“I think I might win New Jersey, I think I might win Virginia,” Trump told the reporter.
Trump last appeared in Virginia last week, when the former president told his supporters that Virginia could prove pivotal to his return to the White House.
Governor Glenn Youngkin, who delivered longer remarks prior to Trump’s speech at the rally, was later brought onstage by Trump to declare, “My friends, America needs Donald Trump. Let’s go win Virginia!”
Trump referenced both Virginia and New Jersey during another rally last week, held in North Carolina. He noted that despite not having campaigned in the Garden State since May, “a little birdie told me we’re leading in New Jersey.”
He told the crowd, “We just left Governor Youngkin, and we’re certainly doing well in Virginia. It’s not considered a swing state but it may very well be a swing state.”
Trump’s remarks about Virginia come as public polls continue to show Harris with a significant lead in the commonwealth. Polling aggregator RealClearPolling shows the vice president with a 5.8 percent lead over the former president.
Still, they follow Youngkin’s prediction in August that Virginia would remain competitive for the Trump campaign, even as Harris outperformed President Joe Biden in polls of the commonwealth’s voters.
“Virginia is competitive, let’s be serious,” said Youngkin, noting Biden carried the state with a 10-point victory in 2020. “I think it’s reflective of the fact that the key issues on voters minds are the economy and the border. Those are big issues in Virginians’ minds.”
It was previously reported that Biden terminated his candidacy and endorsed Harris in response to internal polling that showed Trump defeating him in Virginia.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Donald Trump Rally” by Dan Scavino Jr.
