‘Not Even Trying’: New Report Reveals Trump Campaign Weakness in Key State of Pennsylvania

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump waiting on stage to speak at a campaign rally, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Harrisburg, Pa. AP Photo/Alex Brandon.

Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign is “making no discernible effort” to try and win over the Hispanic vote in Pennsylvania — a key voting bloc in a key swing state — according to a new report in the Financial Times .

FT national editor Edward Luce reported from Allentown on the potential pitfall for the Trump campaign. Luce notes that the Hispanic community in Pennsylvania is 600,000 strong, in a state where the victor of the last two presidential elections won by less than 100,000 votes.

Luce reported :

Joe Biden’s campaign started early and in earnest, running Spanish-language commercials in Pennsylvania in March, eight months before November’s presidential election. Kamala Harris, who replaced him in July, this week booked a new round of ads.

“I have never seen a campaign start as early as Biden — usually it would be in September,” said Victor Martinez, owner of Pennsylvania’s largest Spanish-language radio network and the anchor of his own morning show from Allentown, the state’s third-largest city.

“What confuses me is why the Trump campaign is not even trying to reach Spanish speakers. As a businessman, I would go bankrupt if I ignored my fastest-growing audience.” Harris has also done a phone-in interview with Martinez in English.

Luce pointed out the lack of investment from Trump in Pennsylvania may be a consequence of the fact that he was comfortably leading President Joe Biden in polls in the state before Biden dropped out of the race last month. Now, with Vice President Kamala Harris surging, the race has changed significantly. Nate Silver’s average of polls currently has Harris narrowly beating Trump in the state, having taken the tiniest of leads earlier this month.

Meanwhile, over at Axios, Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen reported that the Trump campaign is doubling down in Georgia, which they apparently see as their route to 270 (or, as Axios put it, “Georgia is Donald Trump’s Pennsylvania.”)

The campaign is so bullish on the Peach State that a whopping 65% of its $37 million spend on ad buys over the next week or so is in Georgia, Axios reported.