Decoding Trump and Pence's coronavirus travel
The 2020 campaign trail has disappeared as we know it, but that hasn't stopped the campaign.
Posted — UpdatedWhile Joe Biden has moved online and been relegated to TV hits and fundraising out of a basement studio, President Donald Trump and his surrogates are still able to pay visits to key states on the electoral map, even if it's not an official campaign event. The President got in on the action on Tuesday with a visit to Arizona (which just so happens to be a swing state!).
But Vice President Mike Pence's travel is even more telling. Consider his recent visits to Minnesota (a swing state), Wisconsin (another swing state) and Indiana (Pence's home state, which leans Republican).
Pence's travel isn't over, either. He's headed to Iowa on Friday (you guessed it -- also a swing state).
Notice a theme about these stops? Hint: It has little to do with masks.
They're all states Trump (and Pence) need to win in November. To be sure, each of these states are also home to key manufacturers as the country churns through the coronavirus. But they just so happen to be especially electorally important for the Trump campaign.
That's the power of incumbency.
No candidate -- or regular person -- can use the Lincoln Memorial for an event. But if you're the president, your Secretary of the Interior can do you a solid for your cable-televised town hall.
The Point: President Donald Trump's office allows him to visit campaign hotspots in a way Joe Biden simply can't.
Copyright 2024 by Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.
