Trump makes campaign stops in Pa., tries to secure large turnout as race tightens

LITITZ, Pa. — Flanked by unmasked Amish voters and MAGA-hat wearing supporters behind him, President Donald J. Trump took the campaign stage in Lancaster County with a message that helped him to win the battleground state four years ago by less than 1 percentage point.  

He worked to discredit his opponent and highlighted his energy and trade policies in a campaign speech geared toward blue-collar workers, who were his biggest backers in Pennsylvania four years ago. 

"We gotta win this election," Trump said during a nearly two-hour rally at Lancaster Airport in Lititz — following a stop in the Allentown area. "Get out and vote. Most important election ever." 

In telling voters why he deserves a second term, Trump said he has made America proud again, safe again and great again. That defense of his record has so far not resonated with swing voters and suburban women in the state, according to multiple polls recently. 

The president spent little time talking about the issue they say is most important to them: the coronavirus.

As of Monday afternoon, there were more than 187,000 positive cases of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania and more than 8,600 deaths. 

The Republican incumbent, in one of three Pennsylvania campaign stops on Monday, instead focused his speech on slamming his Democratic challenger Joe Biden, as well as Pennsylvania's Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. He also took digs at his 2016 opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, and cracked jokes about his recent coronavirus diagnosis. 

More:Trump faces an uphill effort courting the Amish vote in Pennsylvania

Trump again focused on fracking, claiming Biden would destroy the oil and gas industry in the state. 

Biden, who made two campaign stops Saturday in Pennsylvania and one on Monday, has said he would not ban fracking. The former vice president said he would only prohibit fracking on federal land and would, over time, cap emissions from fracking and gas. No president can issue a nationwide ban on fracking without congressional approval. 

During the 2016 campaign, Trump focused his energy policy on bringing back coal and steel. 

This year, he has tried to draw a contrast with Biden on fracking. 

Trump has used this contrast with Biden to try to win voters in southwestern and northern Pennsylvania — two areas of the state with the highest concentration of fracking. 

The oil and gas industry is regional in Pennsylvania. There are areas where fracking takes place and areas where pipelines are built to carry the products to market. But despite local and regional debates during the last 10 years, it has never caught on as a top statewide issue. 

For example, in state polls during the last four years, fracking has never been among the top concerns or issues of voters who were surveyed. 

Polls show the top issues in this election are the coronavirus, economy and healthcare. 

But fracking in Pennsylvania has had a platform in both presidential debates, the lone vice presidential debate and nearly all of the campaign stops with Trump and his surrogates. 

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Fracking may not resonate with voters statewide in Pennsylvania, but it could help Trump with voters in the blue-collar corners that helped him win four years ago.

Trump on Monday also painted Biden as the candidate who would raise taxes and crush the economy — an assertion the Biden campaign sees as bold in Pennsylvania given that the state is seeing the highest unemployment rates since the steel industry collapsed here in the early '80s. 

"Pennsylvanians have lost jobs and lost lives under President Trump’s failed leadership," Biden said in a statement Monday.

The state recently experienced the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in a single day, he said, and the unemployment rate is nearly 10 percent in the counties Trump campaigned in on Monday.

"While working families in Pennsylvania continue to struggle, President Trump has given tax breaks to big corporations that ship jobs overseas and started a reckless tariff war with China that has cost Pennsylvania jobs," Biden said.

Biden said as president he will "shut down the virus and safely open up the economy."

'I am home':Biden’s Pa. roots could run from a Scranton kitchen table to the presidency

Trump said Biden would raise taxes and lead the nation into a depression, while he would return the country to an economic boom that was eroded by the pandemic. The president claimed Biden would raise taxes, though Biden has repeatedly said he wouldn’t raise taxes on households earning less than $400,000 annually. 

Trump also positioned himself as the candidate who is most on the side of blue-collar workers, pointing to his trade agreement with Mexico and Canada, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Biden has a 5-point lead in Pennsylvania, according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls.

But Trump is confident he will repeat his upset victory from 2016 with support from voters who haven't revealed who they are choosing on their ballots. 

“A lot of you people are hidden voters,” Trump said.

Nearly 3 million voters have requested mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania, and about half have already voted.

Trump called on his supporters vote in large numbers on Election Day and to help him again prove the polls and pundits wrong.

“I have fought harder for you than any president has ever fought,” Trump said. "Now, I need you to get out there and vote for me."

Candy Woodall is a reporter for the USA Today Network. She can be reached at 717-480-1783 or on Twitter at @candynotcandace.