By Emma Smith
smithe11@findlay.edu
Trump held two different rallies in Ohio on Monday near Toledo and Dayton. According to PBS.com, Ohio Republicans are noticing a drop in support of the current president and Trump is feeling the need to win this important swing state. This is President Trump’s third trip to the Buckeye State this year.
The Trump campaign called this rally the “Great American Comeback” rally. During the 4:30 p.m. event at Wright Bros. Aero, 3700 McCauley Dr. in Vandalia, Ohio, Donald Trump said his meeting on Air Force One before the rally with Gov. Mike DeWine was very successful and during the meeting DeWine told Trump that he would win Ohio by more votes than in 2016. Trump had nothing but good things to say about DeWine during the speech, but many Trump supporters had different opinions of the Governor. As Trump spoke about DeWine the crowd booed.
Trump introduced DeWine by describing him as “somebody that’s been with me from the beginning, and I’ve been with him from the beginning.”
Various news outlets report the crowd heckled Lt. Gov. Jon Husted when he tried to remind the crowd to wear masks. According to The Hill, the reason the crowd booed might be “because he has taken stiff measures to try to slow the spread of COVID-19.”
Trump spent a large portion of his speech addressing the working class.
“I want to just thank the hard working patriots that are the backbone of America, you really are,” Trump said.
The speech was not entirely focused on Ohio’s workers though, he targeted his opponent, Joe Biden and even took aim at his 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton. At the mention of her name, the crowd chanted “lock her up.”
Trump mentioned that there was a debate between himself and Biden on September 29 at Case Western University in Cleveland.
“He should be able to beat me I think,” Trump said. This was apparently referencing that Biden has been in politics for 47 years and Trump just four years.
Trump then moved on to speak at the Toledo Express Airport near Swanton, Ohio just 50 miles north of Findlay. His speech started shortly before 8 p.m. and lasted a little more than an hour.
Trump was last in Ohio on Aug. 6 when he visited a Whirlpool plant in Clyde.
The latest RealClearPolitics polling average from June 24 to Sept. 2 shows Biden winning Ohio 46.7% to 44.6.7% to 44.3%.