Chicago – When the Democratic National Convention kicks off Monday in the largest city in blue-state Illinois, former President Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, will be in battleground Pennsylvania.
It's part of the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee's plan to offer a full week of counterprogramming to the Democrats' national nominating convention.
“Donald Trump will be campaigning all over the country over the next week,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said in a Sunday interview on Fox News' “America's Newsroom.”
“We're going to speak directly to every American family across this country, like only Donald Trump can. And we're absolutely asking for your votes. We're asking for your support,” Whatley said.
HARRIS AND TRUMP HOLD DUELING MEETINGS ON LARGEST BATTLEFIELD
Former President Trump raises his fist after speaking during a campaign rally at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza on August 17, 2024, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The move is aimed, in part, at trying to slow Vice President Kamala Harris’s momentum heading into the Democratic convention. Harris has been riding a wave of energy and enthusiasm, both in the polls and in fundraising, since replacing President Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket for the 2024 election four weeks ago.
But it also appears to be another move to try to put pressure on Harris for not holding a major press conference or interview since Biden dropped out and endorsed his vice president.
TRUMP'S RUNNING MATE VANCE TRIES TO TURN BLUE WALL STATES RED
“At the Democratic National Convention, Kamala Harris will hide behind celebrities because ordinary families know she has been an unmitigated disaster for our nation, and real Americans are worse off now than they were four years ago,” Trump campaign co-chairs Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita said in a statement ahead of the convention.
Vice President Kamala Harris, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and his wife Gwen Walz arrive at Pittsburgh International Airport, Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
They argued that the vice president “has not responded to media questions for 28 days because she cannot explain her history of supporting policies that cause inflation, bans on private health insurance, destruction of American energy and higher taxes.”
As Fox News first reported last week, both Trump and Vance will be campaigning during the Democratic convention, headlining smaller “messaging events” and larger rallies in states that will likely decide the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.
And as one Trump adviser revealed last week, “a whole group of people” — including his top representatives — will also be making the GOP's case throughout the week.
HARRIS AND TRUMP FACE OFF IN BATTLE FOR BLUE WALL STATES
Trump's schedule is packed this week, with more events than he has attended in months.
The former president and Vance, a first-term senator from Ohio, will hold separate events on Monday on the economy in Pennsylvania, which, with 19 electoral votes at stake, is the biggest prize among the battleground states.
On Tuesday, Trump will be in Michigan while Vance highlights the crime problem during a news conference in Wisconsin.
Sen. JD Vance greets former President Trump during a campaign rally at Georgia State University in Atlanta on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Republican running mates will meet Wednesday for a national security-themed event in North Carolina.
On Thursday, Trump will be in Arizona while Vance will highlight immigration during a stop in Georgia. And on Friday, the former president will campaign in Arizona and Nevada on his promise to “not tax tips.”
“As they meet with Americans in battleground states across the country, President Trump and Senator Vance will remind voters that under their leadership, we can end inflation, protect our communities from violent criminals, secure the border, and Make America Great Again,” LaCivita and Wiles said.
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On Monday, as the convention began, Trump’s top allies in the Senate — Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin — also defended the former president and took aim at Harris and Walz, at a news conference at the Trump International Hotel and Tower in downtown Chicago.
The campaign plans to hold news conferences throughout the week at Trump’s hotel in Chicago. The Biden campaign counterscheduled a news conference that included top party officials in Milwaukee during the Republican National Convention last month.
Ahead of Trump and Vance's visits to Pennsylvania on Monday, Harris' campaign took aim at the former president.
“The more Americans listen to Trump, the clearer the choice will be in November: Vice President Harris is uniting voters with her positive vision of protecting our freedoms, strengthening the middle class and moving America forward, and Donald Trump is trying to take us backwards,” Harris campaign spokesman Joseph Costello said.
Trump and Vance will not be the only candidates in key states this week.
Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, will travel from Chicago to Milwaukee on Tuesday to headline a rally in the key Midwestern battleground.
In years past, it was traditional for a presidential candidate to keep a low profile while the other party held its national nominating convention.
But last month, as Republicans held their convention in Milwaukee, Biden briefly campaigned in the key state of Nevada before cutting his trip short after contracting COVID.
Days later, Biden's shock announcement that he was ending his re-election campaign following his disastrous performance in the late June debate against Trump upended the 2024 election.
Get the latest 2024 campaign updates, exclusive interviews and more in our Fox News digital election hub.
