Republican Presidential nominee, former president Donald J. Trump remarks during a campaign event at Precision Custom Components on August 19, 2024 in York, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images)
Former President Donald Trump will spend the later half of Monday campaigning in Pennsylvania, with rallies planned in Reading and Pittsburgh. The GOP nominee for president will be in Pittsburgh tonight at roughly the same time as Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee.
Trump’s Reading event will be at Santander Arena, where he’s scheduled to take the stage at 2 p.m. He will be joined by his daughter-in-law Republican National Committee co-chairperson Lara Trump, and other members of his campaign’s Team Trump Women’s tour.
The Trump campaign is still dealing with the fallout after a comedian told racist jokes about Puerto Rico at his Oct. 28 rally at Madison Square Garden. According to 2020 Census data, Reading has a 69% Hispanic population, making it the largest in Pennsylvania and one of only three cities in the state with a Latino population over 50%. The other two cities, Hazleton and Allentown, are within a two hour drive from Reading, with some dubbing it Pennsylvania’s “Latino Belt.”
The Reading event will be Trump’s second visit to the city this year; he held a rally there early last month also at Santander Arena.
Trump campaigns in eastern Pennsylvania with rallies in Scranton and Reading
After the Reading rally, Trump will head to Pittsburgh for an evening rally at PPG Paints Arena in the city’s Hill District neighborhood. The rally will be Trump’s first public campaign event in Pittsburgh of 2024. Pittsburgh Public Schools are on a half-day schedule and Allegheny County and City of Pittsburgh workers will be dismissed at noon Monday, with both Harris and Trump in Pittsburgh this evening.
Both candidates and their surrogates have campaigned relentlessly in Pennsylvania over the course of the race, with its 19 electoral votes key to either party winning the White House.
This is a developing story that will be updated.