Former President Donald Trump will spend a day off from his criminal trial in New York next week to visit battleground states Michigan and Wisconsin.
It will be the first time Trump has traveled out of New York on a weekday for a campaign event since his trial on charges of falsifying business records to cover a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels began on April 15. Trump, who has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing, is required to be in the courtroom four days a week, with the trial typically adjourned on Wednesdays.
His campaign announced on its website Wednesday that he will visit Waukesha, Wisconsin, at 2 p.m. local time on May 1, followed by a stop in Freeland, Michigan, for a rally that night at 6 p.m.
Trump made one campaign appearance at a Harlem bodega on April 16 after trial proceedings ended; and last Saturday, a campaign rally in North Carolina was postponed because of bad weather.
During his stop in Wisconsin, his campaign said in a news release, the former president will contrast the peace, prosperity, and security of his term in office with Joe Biden's "failed" presidency.
"The people of Wisconsin are bearing the brunt of Biden's bad policies," Trump's campaign said. "At 18.8%, inflation is stealing $920 per month from the average Wisconsin household. Thanks to Biden's war against American energy, Wisconsinites are paying record prices for electricity and gas.
"Biden was dishonest when he promised to ensure an America 'safe from crime and looting,' as 2023 marked the deadliest year for Wisconsin police in two decades. Biden's weak border policies caused a crisis, with illegal immigrants and criminals funneling deadly drugs into Wisconsin communities, which saw a record number of opioid deaths during the Biden presidency. Biden's failures are crushing the citizens of Wisconsin."
Michigan and Wisconsin are considered key swing states that could determine who wins the White House in November. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, won the states in 2016 but lost them to Biden in 2020.
Trump was last in Michigan on April 2, campaigning in Grand Rapids on immigration. In a separate news release Wednesday, Trump's campaign noted the case of Miguel Hernandez-Ruiz, a Mexican national in the country illegally, charged April 19 with sexually assaulting two girls under age 13 after a home invasion in Sturgis, Michigan.
Hernandez-Ruiz was charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of first-degree home invasion, according to WWMT-TV. A judge denied bail.
"Another day, another story about a Biden migrant in this country illegally committing the most heinous crimes against children," Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump campaign, said in the news release.
"This Biden migrant entered the country in 2021 on a temporary work visa but stayed after it expired. And because Crooked Joe refuses to take border security seriously, predators are on the loose across communities across the country terrorizing families. This is all on Joe's hands."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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