Former President Donald Trump is making a “big move into Minnesota” in hopes of turning Minnesota, which has consistently voted blue in presidential elections since 1976, red.
President Trump will head to the blue state this week to speak at the Minnesota Republican Lincoln-Reagan Banquet. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Trump’s state campaign chairman, said the Minnesota Republican Party is “honored to welcome” Trump to the state.
We are honored to welcome the former and incoming President of the United States. @realDonaldTrump To Minnesota!
We are going to end the Biden administration’s failed policies and get this country back on track. https://t.co/ytmd5YK2U9
— Tom Emmer (@tomemmer) May 6, 2024
President Trump made the following statement on KNSI Radio: believe Minnesota can win.
“In my opinion, it’s not that blue,” he said. “We’re going to take massive action in Minnesota, I promise.”
The last time the state went red in a presidential election was 1972, when it went all in for Richard Nixon. However, since 1976, the state has been a Democratic stronghold in presidential elections. Trump came close to flipping the state in the 2016 election, winning 44.9% of the vote, 1.5% compared to Hillary Clinton’s 46.4%.
In 2020, the Democratic Party’s lead in percentage terms widened even further, as President Biden officially won 52.4% of the state’s vote to Trump’s 45.3%, for a difference of 7.1 points.
WFTV9 spoke with Larry Jacobs, a political scientist at the University of Minnesota, who suggested that Biden could have some trouble in the state this time around, given the economic situation.
“Biden could move money away from states that he thinks he can take away from Trump,” he said. “It looks like Minnesota is in it to me.”
“And if Minnesota is involved, President Trump’s investment of time and money makes sense,” he added.
Perhaps even more, recent polls show movement in President Trump’s direction. An April poll by McLaughlin & Associates showed Mr. Trump leading Mr. Biden by 3 points in the head-to-head race in the state, with 49% of 81-year-olds to 46%.
As Breitbart News reported:
In the showdown between Trump, Biden, Green Party candidate Jill Stein, and liberal Lars Mapstead, the approval rating was 46%, compared to 41% for Biden, 3% for Stein, and 1% for Mapstead. , Mr. Trump is seen as having a 5-point advantage. 9% are still undecided.
In a matchup that included Mr. Trump, Mr. Biden and independents Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Cornel West, Jill Stein and Mr. Mapstead, Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden were tied at 40% each. Kennedy’s approval rating is 9%, followed by West at 1%, Stein at 1% and Mapstead at 0.5%. The remaining 9% of him remains undecided.
🇺🇲 2024 GE: @realDonaldTrump internal
MINNESOTA
🟥 Trump 49%
🟦 Biden 46%
–
🟥 Trump 40%
🟦 Biden 40%
🟨 RFK Jr 9%
🟨 West 1%
🟩 Stein 1%
🟪 Mapstead 1%
–
🟥 Trump 46%
🟦 Biden 41%
🟩 Stein 3%
🟪 Mapstead 1%
——
VIRGINIA
🟦 Biden 48%
🟥 Trump 44%
–
🟦 Biden 40%
🟥 Trump 37%
🟨… pic.twitter.com/RzmJY4ammh— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) May 7, 2024
In an interview with Breitbart News in December, Trump talked about his intention to play for some traditionally blue states, including Minnesota.
“The other thing I’m going to do, it might be a stupid thing, but I’m going to play hard for New York, I’m going to play hard for New Jersey, I’m going to play hard for Virginia. “We’re going to play hard for Virginia,” Trump said. “It’s a tough fight for New Mexico and a state we haven’t won in years, Minnesota.
As Breitbart News reported:
Meanwhile, Minnesota has consistently had close races in recent elections. In 2016, for example, Trump came within about 45,000 voters of Democrat Hillary Clinton. In fact, not only the third-place Libertarian candidate, Gary Johnson, but also the fourth-place Never Trumper, Evan McMullin, received more votes than the margin that separated Trump and Clinton in Minnesota in 2016. President Trump has held few events there, only holding an airport flyby rally and fundraiser earlier this year. In 2020, Biden had a significant lead over Clinton in Minnesota, but the difference between Trump and Biden there was still less than 235,000 votes.
The Minnesota Republican Party’s Lincoln-Reagan Dinner will be held on May 17th.
