Trump predicts win in Minnesota at Saturday’s rally | The Mighty 790 KFGO

Former President Donald Trump

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO/KFGO) – As the presidential campaign enters a crucial final 100 days, Republican candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, mobilized their supporters Saturday in a state that hasn’t supported a GOP candidate for the White House since 1972.

The rally at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud was intended as a sign of the campaign’s optimism about the Midwest’s prospects, especially as President Joe Biden showed signs of weakness ahead of his decision to leave the campaign.

He also ran against Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz, who is reportedly in the running to become Kamala Harris’ running mate.

Trump, who won Michigan and Wisconsin in 2016 but lost them four years later, is increasingly targeting Minnesota as a state where he wants to put Democrats on the defensive.

In May, Trump headlined a GOP fundraiser in St. Paul, where he boasted he could win the state and made a point of calling on the iron ore mine in northeastern Minnesota, where he hopes a large portion of the working-class and unionized population will switch to the Republicans after years of solid Democratic backgrounds.

By appealing to that demographic, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has also landed on the list of about a dozen Democrats being screened for possible Harris’ running mate.

Appearing on WCCO radio with Sheletta Brundidge on Saturday, Walz denied that he was considering joining Harris on the Democratic presidential ticket.

“I’m honored that people say that, but that’s a decision the vice president makes,” Walz said. “It’s nice to be mentioned in this. My job is to go out and make sure that Kamala Harris and whoever’s on her ticket wins in November.”

Walz posted a message on social media platform X on Friday mocking Trump’s visit to his state.

“Donald Trump is coming back to the State of Hockey tomorrow looking for a hat trick,” Walz wrote. “He lost Minnesota in ’16, ’20, and he’ll lose it again in ’24.”

The governor reiterated that statement at a gathering of top Minnesota Democrats in St. Paul ahead of Trump’s visit.

The rally is something of a gamble, potentially forcing presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Democrats to devote resources to a state they might otherwise ignore. But it could also be a risk for Trump if he spends time in places that could prove challenging with Harris as the front-runner, when he could otherwise focus on maintaining his support in more traditional battlegrounds.

Trump spoke for more than an hour and a half to cheering crowds holding signs supporting police and calling for the deportation of immigrants in the country illegally, continuing a pattern of escalating attacks on Harris over immigration and crime.

He called her a “crazy liberal” and accused her of wanting to “defund the police,” while saying he actually wants to “overfund” the police.

By appealing to that demographic, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has also landed on the list of about a dozen Democrats being screened for possible Harris’ running mate.

Walz posted a message on social media platform X on Friday mocking Trump’s visit to his state.

“Donald Trump is coming back to the State of Hockey tomorrow looking for a hat trick,” Walz wrote. “He lost Minnesota in ’16, ’20, and he’ll lose it again in ’24.”

Saturday’s rally took place at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center, a 5,159-seat hockey arena. Since surviving a July 13 assassination attempt at an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump has held events only indoors. But he said in a post on his social media network Saturday that he would be planning outdoor stops and that the “SECRET SERVICE HAS AGREED TO SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE THEIR OPERATIONS.”

Secret Service officials declined to say whether the agency had agreed to expand activities at Trump’s campaign events or whether it had concerns that he might resume outdoor rallies. “Ensuring the safety and security of our protected individuals is our highest priority,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement Saturday. “In the interest of maintaining operational integrity, we cannot comment on specifics about our protective equipment or methods.”