Trump hits Minnesota, Wisconsin on 1st day of Democratic convention

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump visited Minnesota and Wisconsin to present himself as the candidate who shows up in person while Vice President Joe Biden participates in the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee online from Delaware to avoid contracting or spreading COVID-19.

Ahead of Air Force One’s touchdown in Minnesota, Gov. Tim Walz posted a video of himself saying he had tried to tell the White House “why it was a really bad idea to have President Trump go down and stand at the George Floyd memorial and use as a backdrop for his campaign.”

Floyd was the Black man whose killing while in Minneapolis police custody has sparked sometimes-violent demonstrations from coast to coast and even overseas.

Deputy White House press secretary Judd Deere responded to the Democratic governor on Twitter, “Who did you reach out to at the White House? Nobody here heard from you.”

Deere added that Trump would not use the George Floyd memorial “as a political backdrop, but he does want to hear from business owners impacted by the riots.”

It was an exchange that highlighted the Democrats’ message — that Trump has failed to keep Americans safe from the coronavirus — and the GOP admonition that blue-state governors and mayors have allowed their cities to burn.

In Minneapolis, Trump said he had shown up to reassure “small-business owners who were victims of the violence, mayhem, destruction on the streets of Minneapolis” that he would “bring back law and order to your community.”

Campaign in full swing

Trump took a swipe at Sen. Kamala Harris of California, who said “horrible things about Vice President (Joe) Biden” during the primary campaign, although Biden chose her as his running mate anyway.

Trump’s supporters, many of whom were not wearing masks, booed when Trump pronounced the name of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., a member of “The Squad” of four minority women serving their first terms in the House. Trump described Omar as “a horrible woman who hates our country.”

At all three stops, Trump spoke on the airport tarmac with Air Force One in the background.

In Mankato, he joked that he almost won Minnesota in 2016 but instead chose to give a last speech in Michigan, where he won.

“If I don’t win this time, I’m not coming back,” Trump told the crowd.

In Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Trump returned to his surprise victory in that state in 2016 as he readied to visit two other battleground states, Arizona and Pennsylvania, later this week. On Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence will speak at Wisconsin’s Janesville Jet Center.

In 2016, Trump won Wisconsin by less than 1 percent of the vote, while Democrat Hillary Clinton took Minnesota with 1.5 percent more of the vote.

Polls show Biden leading

The RealClearPolitics polling average shows Biden ahead nationally by 8 points with 50 percent of the vote. RealClearPolitics’ polling averages also show Biden leading in Wisconsin, 50 to 43.5 percent, and in Minnesota, 50 to 43 percent.

While Biden has enjoyed a consistent lead nationally for close to a year, Trump told his supporters that he is the beneficiary of an enthusiasm gap. According to the Pew Research Center, 49 percent of voters are satisfied with the presidential candidates, while 48 percent are not — with 49 percent of Republicans and 42 percent of Democrats very or fairly satisfied with the candidates.

“It would have been nicer to have a real convention,” Democratic pollster Paul Maslin commented from Madison, in recognition of Trump’s more-pronounced presence in Wisconsin on the day the Democratic National Convention opened its four-night virtual confab officially held in Milwaukee.

Democrats are looking at a different equation, with a different set of questions about Trump rallies. “How many people are going to be there? Are they going to be wearing masks or not? Is it going to be Tulsa all over again,” Maslin asked, in reference to a Trump rally in June. After the indoor rally, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain came down with the coronavirus. While it is impossible to know when they contracted the virus, Cain later died.

Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7391. Follow @DebraJSaunders on Twitter.