Former President Donald Trump will be holding a rally with Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) in the Old Dominion State the day after the first 2024 presidential debate, which is on Thursday.
According to reports, Youngkin plans to appear at the rally, which is set to take place on Friday, the day after CNN’s presidential debate. CBS News first reported on the “large” planned event.
“One of the areas they are looking to hold the rally is Virginia Beach/ Chesapeake area which has a heavy military population,” according to CBS News’s Olivia Rinaldi.
This news comes as Trump has continued his 2024 campaign strategy of targeting traditionally blue states, outlining his aggressive expansion of the electoral map to Breitbart News several months ago.
“One of the other things I’m going to do — and I may be foolish in doing it — is I’m going to make a heavy play for New York, heavy play for New Jersey, heavy play for Virginia, heavy play for New Mexico, and a heavy play for a state that hasn’t been won in years, Minnesota,” Trump said at the time, explaining that “heavy play” translates to rallies, speeches, and more.
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Virginia has not gone red in a presidential election since 2004, going for former President George W. Bush. In the following years, Virginia went for former President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016, and President Joe Biden in 2020. According to official results, Biden took the state by just over ten percentage points that year — 54.4 percent to Trump’s 44.2 percent — a difference of roughly 451,000 votes.
Things could be changing in many of these traditionally blue states, particularly after Trump’s controversial conviction in his New York business records trial. A Fox News poll, taken June 1-4, 2024, showed Trump and Biden tied at 48 percent support each in a head-to-head race in Virginia. In a race with third-party candidates, Biden is up only by a single percentage point — 41 to 42 percent. Further, a Roanoke College poll, taken in May, told a similar story, with Trump and Biden tired with 42 percent support each in a head-to-head matchup and Biden leading by just two points with third-party candidates included. The survey’s margin of error is ± 4.24 percent, indicating a virtual tie.
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