Politics- Former President Trump is targeting five critical
swing states as he maps out a possible 2024 bid. - The states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — were won by Biden in 2020.
As former President
The states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — gave Biden a critical Electoral College edge that denied Trump a second term in office.
But Trump's team is already diving into polling numbers for the five states, with GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio conducting surveys for the former president's super PAC, "Make America Great Again, Again!"
According to the polling memo, Trump posted leads over Biden in each of the five battleground states:
- Trump led in Arizona by a 51%-43% margin (+8 points)
- Trump was ahead in Georgia by a 48%-45% margin (+3 points)
- Trump had a 53%-41% edge in Michigan (+12 points)
- Trump led Pennsylvania by a 51%-45% margin (+6 points)
- Trump had a 52%-42% lead in Wisconsin (+10 points)
The survey, which included 600 likely voters, had a margin of error of ±4%.
Fabrizio said that the results reflected Trump's strength headed in 2024.
"Poll after poll clearly demonstrates that former President Donald Trump is still the 800-pound gorilla in the GOP and would be its 2024 nominee should he run," he told Politico. "This new data clearly shows that today the voters in these five key states would be happy to return Trump to the White House and send Biden packing."
In each of these key states, Trump's campaign team in 2020 filed a slew of lawsuits aimed at overturning the results, pointing, for example, to unsubstantiated claims of election malfeasance in Maricopa County, the most populous county in Arizona. They also made unfounded allegations about election counting in Wayne County, Michigan, an overwhelmingly Democratic jurisdiction that the former president decisively lost.
Since leaving office, Trump has continued to hold rallies to connect with voters supportive of his "Make America Great Again" movement while not outright declaring a 2024 presidential candidacy.
In another move that could signal a 2024 bid, Trump's super PAC is throwing a fundraiser on December 2. The party's leading donors have been invited to the former president's Mar-a-Lago club in South Florida.
While Trump recently said that he would "probably" make his decision known after the 2022 midterm elections, Biden's team recently reiterated that the president planned to run for reelection in 2024.
Steve Schale, the chief executive officer of Unite the Country, a pro-Biden super PAC, said that early midterm polling is barely indicative of what the national mood will resemble three years from now.
"There are historical headwinds we're facing, that any president faces during a midterm: five of the last seven midterm elections have been wave cycles for the other party," Schale told Politico.
Still, after Democratic losses in Virginia earlier this month, Schale sent out a memo to donors stating that the electoral setbacks were a "wake-up call" for the party.