OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
In an attempt to counter-program, former president Donald Trump is getting ready to forego the third Republican primary debate in favor of a rally in South Florida.
On November 8, Trump’s campaign has announced that he will hold a rally at a stadium in Hialeah. This will take place approximately thirty minutes away from the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, where his rivals will be hosting their own rally. Trump has repeatedly said that, given his huge lead, he does not see the point in continuing to run.
More than 95% of Hialeah’s population is Hispanic or Latino, making it a predominantly Hispanic suburb. The majority are either native Spanish speakers or Cuban immigrants, NBC Miami reported.
The Republicans’ desire to increase their share of the Hispanic vote in the 2024 elections is reflected in the location they’ve chosen. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Trump opponent, became the first Republican governor in 20 years to win Miami-Dade County, of which Hialeah is a part, in the midterm elections of 2022.
Trump would use a large crowd as a show of strength against DeSantis, who was once considered his greatest rival but is now fighting for second place.
Candidates must receive at least 4% of the vote in multiple polls and 70,000 unique donors in order to participate in the NBC-hosted debate in November.
Trump’s presidential campaign took in tens of millions of dollars during the third quarter, even exceeding his high second-quarter performance as he continues to surge ahead of his 2024 Republican rivals.
Trump’s campaign announced that it raised $45.5 million in the third quarter.
The campaign reported having more than $37.5 million in cash on hand, a release stated. In addition, Trump’s campaign said that GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who is in second place behind Trump in most polls, only had $5 million in cash on hand for the ongoing primaries, the Times added.
DeSantis’s campaign raised $15 million in the third quarter. Robert Bigelow, who donated $20 million to a DeSantis-allied PAC, said in August that he would stop donating if DeSantis didn’t moderate his policy positions.
In the release, the Trump campaign announced: “In an impressive testament to the overwhelming grassroots support behind President Trump that will lead to dominating victories, close to $36 million of the total cash on hand is designated for the primary.”
“While DeSanctus’ fundraising, like his poll numbers, has seen an exponential drop even from July, President Trump outraised his impressive $35 million haul in Q2 (which doubled Q1 fundraising) by more than $10 million,” the Trump campaign said.
“The Q3 numbers are even more impressive considering the summer months are usually when most campaigns experience lagging fundraising support,” the Trump campaign added. “President Trump and his campaign have completely shattered that notion.”
Meanwhile, as Trump becomes a juggernaut once again and appears, at this time, to be a shoo-in to win the GOP nomination, other surveys have him moving even with or past President Biden in some of the most critical swing states.
Voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin were polled by Bloomberg/Morning Consult, and their results showed that Trump was ahead of Biden by 4 percentage points due to widespread disapproval of the vice president’s handling of the economy.
