Donald Trump on Saturday dinged Democrats and party nominee Joe Biden for largely skipping Milwaukee as a convention site in favor of holding a virtual event, as the president prepares to stop by the site of a pared-back Republican National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., next week.
“Biden and the Democrats have greatly disrespected the Great State of Wisconsin by not even paying a small visit to Milwaukee, the designated site of the DNC,” Trump tweeted. “The State & City worked very hard to make sure things would be good. Not nice.”
Trump, who has consistently lagged Biden in polls in Wisconsin after snatching it from Democrats in 2016, urged residents to “Vote Trump Wisconsin!” in protest.
Trump will visit the Charlotte convention site during a visit to North Carolina on Monday, a Republican close to the Trump campaign told POLITICO on Friday, ahead of the event's scheduled kickoff that evening. More than 300 Republican delegates and party officials still plan to meet in their host city for an in-person roll call vote and procedural business after Trump previously scrapped plans to speak in the city over the state’s social distancing guidelines.
The Democratic National Committee announced in July that its planned Milwaukee convention would instead go all-virtual as outbreaks in coronavirus cases worsened across the country. Delegates’ roll call vote played out in a series of virtually broadcast videos recorded in all 57 states and territories, with Biden accepting his party's nomination from his home state of Delaware.
The bulk of Republicans’ programming will take place in and around the Washington, D.C., area — mostly on federal property. Trump has said he plans to deliver his nomination speech from the White House Rose Garden next week, while Vice President Mike Pence is expected to speak at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Md.
Trump’s Saturday tweet barrage continued with false claims that the Democratic Party omitted the phrase “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance during its four nights of national convention programming.
He also alleged Democrat-run cities “rampant with crime” could see spillover into suburban areas, repeating a fear-based allusion in an attempt to court suburban female voters, a key electoral bloc that is turning away from the president in recent polling.
“Why would Suburban Women vote for Biden and the Democrats when Democrat run cities are now rampant with crime (and they aren’t asking the Federal Government for help) which could easily spread to the suburbs, and they will reconstitute, on steroids, their low income suburbs plan!” Trump wrote.
Trump also again weighed in on protests in Portland, Ore., which have persisted in the city since the death of George Floyd in May, saying he's waiting to be asked by the state's governor to squelch the unrest.
"Another bad night of Rioting in Portland, Oregon. A small number of Federal troops there to protect courthouse and other Federal property only (great job!)," Trump said. "Wanting to be asked by City & State to STOP THE RIOTS. Would bring in National Guard, end problem immediately. ASK!"
Trump then traveled by motorcade to his golf resort in Sterling, Va., arriving there around 10 a.m., according to pool reports.
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