Donald Trump delivered an urgent message to supporters on Saturday in Pennsylvania, urging them to register to vote before a looming deadline, but not before telling a rather intimate story about golfing great Arnold Palmer.
The seven-time major championship winner grew up close to Latrobe airport, which is now named after him.
Trump entertained supporters as the sun set with the story of Palmer’s early life, describing how the talented young golfer grew into a wealthy champion who bought the local golf club and put his father in charge.
But that was not the most impressive bit of his life, added Trump, warming to the theme.
‘Arnold Palmer is all man,’ he said.
Former President Donald Trump appeared before thousands of supporters at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, Pennsylvania on Saturday evening
‘I mean no disrespect to women, I love women, but he was all man.
‘When he took showers with the other pros they came out saying ‘Oh my God.’ I had to say it… I had to tell you the shower part because it’s true.’
It was what the crowd had come for, some celebrity stories mixed with a dose of Dem-bashing.
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Having delighted the crowd with that bawdy tale, Trump got down to the serious business of the night: Setting out the stakes of what he said was the most important election in the nation’s history.
Monday is the deadline to register to vote in Pennsylvania. And nowhere is the race closer.
Trump is spending the weekend campaigning from west to east, from Pittsburgh to Pennsylvania, in a sign of its importance.
‘If we win Pennsylvania we win the whole damn thing,’ he told several thousand supporters assembled on the airport’s apron.
Trump is all in on Pennsylvania this weekend.
On Sunday he mans a McDonald’s fry station near Philadelphia, holds a town hall in Lancaster, and then will be at the Pittsburgh Steelers game in the evening.
His speech contained all his greatest hits: Exaggerated crowd size, complaints about a ‘weaponized’ justice system, and a promise to tell Vice President Kamala Harris, ‘You’re fired.’
Trump is spending two days in Pennsylvania ahead of the deadline for voter registration
Arnold Palmer won seven major championships and grew up close to the airport that is now named after him outside Pittsburgh
Trump’s plane delighted fans as it came into land on Saturday evening
Former Pittsburgh Steeler Antonio Brown whipped up the crowd ahead of Trump’s arrival
But he also revealed he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu during the day, a leader who stands at a pivotal moment amid war in the Middle East, weighing when and how to strike Iran.
The main message, however, was to encourage supporters to get out to vote early, beating Democrats at their own game
‘Early voting in Pennsylvania is now under way, Just go and vote,’ he said. ‘If you’ve not registered to vote you’ve got two days.’
He told his crowd that their vote will decide, ‘whether we give up on America, or whether we save America.’
And he promised them a ‘new golden age.’
‘One hundred years from now, the presidential election of 2024 will be looked upon as America’s greatest victory,’ he said. ‘We have been through so much together, and the finish line is finally in sight.’
Pennsyvlania has 19 electoral college votes making it a vital battleground
J.L. Partners polled 800 likely voters in Pennsylvania on their voting intention from Oct 5 to Oct 8 using a variety of methods. The results carry a 3.5 percent margin of error
Of the seven swing state battlegrounds, Pennsylvania is the most consequential.
The state is likely to provide the tipping point in the election. Its 19 electoral college votes could take one candidate or the other past the threshold for victory on Nov. 5.
To win, Trump needs high turn-out in the deep red counties around the blue-collar city of Pittsburgh to counteract Harris’ support in the big urban areas.
Trump won the state in 2016 by fewer than 70,000 votes. He lost it four years later by a little more.
The latest DailyMail.com/J.L. Partners polled shows that it could not be closer.
If the election were tomorrow, each candidate would win 47 percent of the vote.
Harris was spending Saturday at a get-out-the-vote event in Detroit, Michigan, alongside Michigan-born rapper Lizzo, on the first day of early voter.
Then she was due to travel to Atlanta, Georgia, for a rally with pop singer Usher.