Photos: Trump campaigns in Rochester days ahead of election
Four years ago, President Donald Trump lost Minnesota by just 1.5 percentage points. Ever since, the president has been dead set on flipping the state to the Republican column, something that has not happened in 48 years, the longest such streak in the country.
On Friday, Trump returned to Minnesota for the fourth time this election season for a rally at the Rochester International Airport. Speaking to a crowd gathered on the tarmac, the president said, “Four days from now we are going to win the state of Minnesota. I did not forget you.”
Trump used his opening remarks to direct criticism at Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, both Democrats, for state restrictions limiting the size of the crowd to 250. Prior to settling on the airport site, the Trump campaign had wanted to stage a much larger rally in Dodge Center.
“As you know, there are at least 25,00 people who wanted to be here tonight,” Trump said, before claiming the state tried to “shut down the rally, silence the people of Minnesota and take away your freedom."
As Trump spoke, at least a thousand people gathered outside of the event entrance waving signs and chanting in support of the president. While they were not let into the main event area, due to the campaign’s contract with the city, the president did take his motorcade down to greet the supporters.
Trump later returned to the stage where he delivered a 20-minute stump speech on familiar themes such as crime, China and Covid restrictions. He falsely claimed that his opponent, Democrat Joe Biden, wanted to lock down the economy, adding that a Biden presidency would lead to “no weddings, no Thanksgiving, no Christmas, no Fourth of July.”
“Under my plan, we will deliver a safe vaccine to the American people in just a matter of weeks,” the president said. He added that the country has begun “rounding the turn on the pandemic.”
Trump also held events Friday in the battleground states of Michigan and Wisconsin. Biden, meanwhile, held a drive-in rally Friday in St. Paul.
Below are some of our best shots from Friday’s event in Rochester.
All photos © William Forsman for Med City Beat
