Former President Donald Trump is headed to Georgia today for a speech on the economy in Savannah, days after new economic figures showed Harris closing the gap on one of his strongest issues.
The remarks, which are set to be received at the Johnny Mercer Theatre Civic Center, will address the U.S. manufacturing industry and the nature of the U.S. tax code, according to the Trump campaign’s description of the event.
Trump is expected to continue his criticisms of the Federal Reserve in light of its decision to cut the benchmark interest rate, something that the former president has branded as “playing politics.”
Where Is Tonight’s Event?
The rally will be held in Savannah, in the state of Georgia.
Trump is speaking at the Johnny Mercer Theatre Civic Center, and will address the U.S. manufacturing industry and the nature of the U.S. tax code, according to the Trump campaign’s description of the event.
The Civic Center holds around 2,500 people, with standing room for more.
What Time Is the Event?
Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump arrives on stage during a campaign rally at the Georgia State University Convocation Center on August 3 in Atlanta, Polls currently show a close race between Trump and Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The Trump campaign’s official live stream of the event begins at 1PM EDT.
Doors to the venue open at 10AM, with the event set to begin a few hours later. The former president is expected to speak at 1PM.
Where Will the Event Be Aired?
The event is being livestreamed from Donald Trump’s official YouTube account.
No major networks have the rally on their scheduled programming, although the campaign is expected to also show clips of the speech on social media sites, such as Twitter/X.
Why Does This Event Matter?
Georgia has emerged as one of the most important swing states this election carrying 16 Electoral College votes. Won by President Joe Biden in 2020 and won by Trump in 2016, current polling has put the Peach State at a neck-and-neck race between Harris and Trump.
However, a slate of recent good polling in the Sun Belt for Trump has put him a few fractions of a point ahead of Harris; The FiveThirtyEight polling average currently has him ahead by 1.4 points.
With the race neck-and-neck, Trump is hoping this speech will help rebuild the coalition that he first built up in 2016, focusing on the “bread-and-butter” issues that made him a compelling outsider candidate.
What Are the Issues To Look Out For?
Trump is expected to focus on the economy, and will likely expand on his anger towards the Federal Reserve.
After the Fed cut the benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point to a range of 4.75 percent to 5 percent, Trump said: “I guess it shows the economy is very bad, to cut it by that much, assuming they’re not just playing politics. The economy would be very bad, or they’re playing politics. But it was a big cut.”
In recent days, Trump has used a familiar statistic to address the issue of inflation, which is also likely to be discussed. Trump has pinned inflation on the Biden-Harris administration, describing it as: “the worst inflation in American history, costing us and the typical family $28,000.”
Trump will also address manufacturing jobs and energy jobs it both industries that matter significantly to swing state voters in the Midwest and the South.
Yesterday, Trump claimed that Harris had “lost” Pennslyvania already due to her position on fracking, an industry that has been the lifeblood of large parts of the Midwest for decades. Harris maintains a very small lead in Pennsylvania, which is predicted to be the deciding state this election as it was in 2020.
Trump’s focus on the economy comes as Harris is closing the gap on the issue, widely considered to be the most important of the election. Trump has historically held a healthy lead on both the economy and immigration, but recent weeks have seen that lead shrink.
When NBC News first asked voters whether Trump or Biden would be better at handling the economy in January, Trump was ahead of Biden by 22 points.
However, in a national poll conducted by NBC News from September 13 to 17, Trump was ahead of Harris on issues of the economy by only 9 points (50 to 41 percent). While still behind, Harris has improved the perception of how Democrats would handle the economy if they continued to run the White House.
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