2024 election on pace to mimic 2016: Salena Zito

Washington Examiner columnist Salena Zito argued that the 2024 presidential election is trending similarly to that of 2016, which saw Donald Trump upset the Democratic elite and win the White House.

While appearing on Fox & Friends Sunday, Zito reflected on the momentum swinging in former President Donald Trump’s favor among Pennsylvania voters.

“The people who are more likely to decide this election are more likely to be cosmetologists, welders, firemen, steelworkers, barbers, the people who work with their hands, the people who own small businesses, as opposed to the more elite, more wealthy areas in the center cities of Philadelphia and its suburbs or Pittsburgh,” Zito said. “And that’s where you see the enthusiasm — in those counties. It’s going to be about 60 of these more rural, post-industrial, working-class counties that are going to have the outside effect in this election cycle.”

“This is definitely more 2016,” Zito added. "I have argued for a while that the election that might end up being a fluke is not 2016, which a lot of people saw it, but 2020.

Zito noted the appeal that Elon Musk , who has endorsed Trump and recently joined him on the campaign trail, is having with voters is because he represents the “American ethos of the dignity of work.”

Voters in Pennsylvania, the battleground state with the most Electoral College votes, have recently seen several campaign stops from both Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris . The state is set to be a crucial component of the 2024 election decision.

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President Joe Biden won Pennsylvania in 2020 by less than 70,000 votes, and the race remains tight heading into the final weeks of the race.

RealClearPolitics ’s polling average shows Trump ahead of Harris by three points in Pennsylvania while holding a two-point national lead.