Former President Donald Trump is heading west this week for events in two battleground states following his conviction last week in the Manhattan hush money case.
On Thursday, the 45th president will hold an event in Arizona hosted by the conservative group Turning Point Action. Then on Sunday, Trump will headline his first campaign rally since the guilty verdict in Las Vegas.
Polls of both states indicate Trump held significant leads over President Biden as the presumptive Republican nominee tries to reverse his losses from 2020.
Trump’s relatively wide margin may be attributed to his hardline stance on illegal immigration, with both Sun Belt states hit particularly hard by an influx of migrants coming across the southern border.
Trump, 77, leads Biden, 81, by an average of 4.0 percentage points in a five-way matchup in Arizona involving third-party candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Jill Stein, and Cornel West, according to RealClearPolitics.
In Nevada, Trump leads Biden by an average of 5.4 percentage points in a five-way contest, per RCP.
“Arizonans have faced numerous migrant crimes due to Biden’s weak border policies. In October 2023, ICE arrested an illegal immigrant wanted for terrorism in Senegal weeks after Border Patrol released him. Arizona families have also lost $29,053 on average due to Bidenflation, with inflation over 22.2% and monthly costs spiking by $1,200,” Turning Point Action founder Charlie Kirk said in a statement.
Biden’s 2020 win in Arizona was just the second time the Grand Canyon State had backed a Democrat for president since 1952.
Nevada, on the other hand, hasn’t landed in the Republican column since George W. Bush won re-election in 2004.
Trump was last in Nevada in January, before he carried the state GOP-run caucus with 99.1% support, while his top rival at the time, Nikki Haley, registered for the non-binding primary.
His Vegas visit also coincides with the closely-watched Republican Senate primary, which will be held June 11.
Former Army captain Sam Brown and state legislator Jim Marchant are battling for the nomination, but Trump has yet to take a side.
The Nevada rally will “lay out the choice” for the state and the country, the Trump campaign said in their announcement of the event.
“President Trump will put America first by getting our economy back on the right track for working families, lowering inflation and the cost of living,” the announcement read. “President Trump will secure the border and make our cities safe again. And President Trump will make the world respect us again with his peace through strength agenda. Americans are coming together like never before with a shared mission to Make America Great Again.”
Biden has also made his pitch to Silver Staters, visiting in February and March.
Vice President Kamala Harris and first lady Jill Biden have also stumped in Nevada in an effort to boost Biden’s numbers.
