Trump and Vance campaign in Minnesota, a traditionally Democratic state

As the presidential campaign enters the final 100-day stretch, Republican nominee Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance rallied supporters Saturday in a state that has not backed a Republican candidate for the White House since 1972.

The rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota, was designed as a sign of the campaign’s optimism about its prospects across the Midwest, particularly as President Joe Biden showed signs of weakness. before his decision to abandon the campaign.

Trump, who won Michigan and Wisconsin in 2016 only to lose them four years later, has increasingly focused on Minnesota as a state where he would like to put Democrats on the defensive.

Trump attacked the likely Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, as a “crazy liberal” and a “radical left-wing lunatic,” accusing her of wanting to “defund the police.”

The former Republican president said, on the contrary, that he wants to “overfund the police.”

Trump also called Harris an “absolute radical” on abortion, apparently sensing an opportunity to attack her on the issue as the Biden administration’s most vocal abortion rights advocate.

He misleadingly suggested that Harris wants to allow abortions “up to and after birth.” Infanticide is criminalized in every state, and no state has passed a law allowing the killing of a baby after birth.

Trump’s comments followed a forceful speech by Vance, in which he leaned heavily on the Issues that energize the Republican baseparticularly US-Mexico border security and crime.

She also lashed out at the media, arguing that journalists were comparing the first black woman and person of South Asian descent to lead a major party ticket to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The surge is a gamble of sorts, one that could force Harris and Democrats to devote resources to a state they would likely ignore otherwise. But it could also be a risk for Trump if he spends time in places that are out of reach, with Harris leading the ticket, when he could otherwise focus on maintaining his support in more traditional battlegrounds.

Earlier on Saturday, Trump spoke at a bitcoin conference in Nashville, Tennessee, laying out a plan to adopt cryptocurrency if elected and promising to make the United States the “cryptocurrency capital of the planet” and a “bitcoin superpower.”

Trump has not always been a supporter of cryptocurrencies, but he has changed his attitude toward digital tokens in recent years and, in May, his campaign began accepting cryptocurrency donations.

Trump’s opening speech showed how radically his position on cryptocurrencies has changed over time.

He hasn’t always been a fan of cryptocurrencies, writing on social media in 2019 that their “value is highly volatile and based on thin air.”

He has embraced digital currency in recent years, and in May his campaign began accepting cryptocurrency donations.

Trump’s comments came a day after independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. addressed the conference and also pitched the launch of a bitcoin strategic reserve.

After surviving the assassination attempt of July 13 At an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump has only held events in indoor venues. But he said in a post on his social media account Saturday that he will schedule outdoor stops and that the Secret Service will increase security.

Secret Service officials did not say whether the agency had agreed to expand operations at Trump campaign events or whether it had any concerns about him resuming outdoor gatherings.

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