'Suburban Women, Will You Please Like Me?' Trump Asks At PA Rally
JOHNSTOWN, PA — President Trump on Tuesday held a rally in Pennsylvania in which he implored suburban women voters he needs to win the Nov. 3 election to support him.
“Suburban women: Will you please like me?” he asked. “Please. Please. I saved your damn neighborhood, OK?”
Trump has returned to the campaign trail after having tested positive for the coronavirus almost two weeks ago. After a rally in Florida on Monday, he made his second public appearance outside of Washington since being diagnosed with the virus.
He spoke for more than an hour in Johnstown to a crowd of thousands, most of whom were not wearing masks or observing social distancing despite the coronavirus outbreak. Saying he was now immune from the virus, Trump offered to kiss members of the audience.
His pleading with women voters comes after a recent survey in The New York Times indicated that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden had a 15-point lead among females, but Trump did not let the polling alter his remarks.
“We’re going to see that the women really like Trump a lot,” the president said.
Trump also falsely claimed that he won a majority of the female vote in 2016 with 52 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton actually won with 54 percent of the female vote according to exit polls, The New York Times reported.
Trump predicted a repeat of the 2016 election, in which political commentators and observers predicted he would not receive much support from women.
“I said, ‘Why? Am I so bad?’ ” Trump said. “Then I got 52 percent. They said, ‘What the hell happened with the women?’ ”
According to The Washington Post, Trump actually received the support of 52 percent of white women — not 52 percent of women overall.
Trump, trailing Biden overall in various polls, likely needs to win Pennsylvania to win a second term.
The Keystone State's 20 electoral votes are tied for fifth-most, and Pennsylvania was one of three traditionally blue states that propelled Trump to victory in 2016. Trump was the first Republican presidential candidate to win Pennsylvania since George H.W. Bush in 1988.
But Trump's margin of victory over Hillary Clinton was razor thin. More than 6 million votes were cast in Pennsylvania, and Trump won by 44,000 — less than 1 percent. Even a minuscule voter shift could tip the state to Biden.
A Monmouth University poll released last week had Biden leading over Trump by a 54 percent to 42 percent margin. That's a significant jump over last month's Monmouth survey that had Biden leading by just 4 percentage points in the Keystone State with a 49-45 percent edge.
Biden on Tuesday was campaigning in Florida, another battleground state that Trump likely needs to win to remain in office. He told a group of seniors that Trump believes they are "expendable" and "forgettable." This comes as Trump sent a tweet that mocked Biden as fit to be a resident of a nursing home.
You can view the president's Johnstown remarks here:
Catch up with all the Pennsylvania election headlines here.
This article originally appeared on the Pittsburgh Patch
