Trump Tells House Republicans That He's Aiming To Flip Historically Democrat States In November

On Thursday, the presumptive GOP nominee, Donald Trump, joined House Republicans in Washington, DC, to discuss the 2024 presidential race and his vision for a second term in the White House. A key aspect of his strategy, as outlined during the event, is the Trump campaign's decision to prioritize several historically Democrat-leaning states. This move aims to reshape the electoral map and potentially alter the political landscape, as in 2016.

Trump reportedly told the GOP caucus that Virginia, Minnesota, New Mexico, and New Jersey are all in play in November. According to the Five Thirty Eight polling average, Trump is narrowly trailing President Biden by 2.4 points in Minnesota. The state, which was won by Hillary Clinton by only 1.5 percent in 2016, has become increasingly competitive in recent presidential elections but hasn't been won by a Republican since Richard Nixon in 1972.

Trump's play for New Jersey also shows a somewhat tight race, with a March survey from Emerson College showing the two candidates separated by only about six points. Trump likely has confidence he could be competitive in the state following a massive rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, that saw tens of thousands of supporters cheer on the ex-president.

While Biden won the state of New Mexico by 11 points in 2020, Trump could be competitive in the state. Some recent polling shows Biden with a seven—or eight-point lead over Trump. While the Land of Enchantment might be a bit more of a stretch for the Trump campaign, Virginia will be a close contest for Democrats. 

A recent Fox survey found that Biden and Trump are deadlocked in the Old Dominion state, with Trump and Biden tied with 48 percent support. In a five-way race with the three third-party candidates, Biden narrowly squeezes out a victory with 42 percent compared to Trump's 41 percent, independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at nine percent, independent Cornel West at two percent, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein at two percent.

As previously reported by the DC Enquirer, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) recently said in a Fox interview that Virginia isn't guaranteed to go for Biden. "Let's just begin by remembering where we were in 2020 when Joe Biden won Virginia by 10 points, and the fact that we're having this discussion is a huge turn of events...We're here in June, and there's still a lot of water to go under the bridge, but Virginia looks like it's in play, and that's pretty exciting."

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