Trump has long done things other Republicans wouldn’t dare to do. On Saturday, the former president went to Temple University in Philadelphia, holding a massive rally in a city where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 7-to-1 ratio.
In the precincts near Temple’s campus, the former president garnered just 5 percent of the vote four years ago.
🚨Breaking: Live look at Trump’s rally in blue Philadelphia. He is going to win Pennsylvania and it’s not going to even be close. pic.twitter.com/D0NxDSeJOd
— Jorge Washington (@theredhombre) June 23, 2024
None of that mattered on Saturday, though. The crowd was rocking as Trump laid into Biden, reported The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“Biden’s wave of bedlam and death and terror will begin to recede the moment I take the oath of office,” Trump said. “There are certain places, like places that I know very well here, that are just absolutely out of control.”
The event put in stark relief the effort the Republican nominee is making to win over voters — especially people of color — in traditionally Democratic strongholds. He recently rallied in Las Vegas and the South Bronx, N.Y. At the rally Saturday, the Trump campaign’s second in Philly this month, signs read: “Philadelphia is Trump country.”
“I was like, Philly? Is he sure?” said Tom Mathena, 47, a Trump supporter and construction worker from Wilmington. “It was a bold move.”
Biden is still expected to win Philadelphia handily. But even a small shift in votes could hand Trump Pennsylvania, a key battleground where he and Biden are polling neck-and-neck and a state that could tilt the Electoral College.
If Trump wins Pennsylvania, as he did in 2016, the chance of him winning back the White House goes up dramatically.
The former president also made a huge impression on one lucky server at Nick’s Steaks in South Philly before the rally, leaving a $500 tip and writing “no taxes on tips” on the receipt.
“It was just unbelievable,” Nicky Lucidonio, owner of Tony and Nick’s Steaks, shared with Fox News Digital. “He was talking to people, you know, they’re asking questions. He’s answering them. He’s signing hats. He signed and everything.
“We’re all taking pictures with him. What a great man, you know. We’re all here rooting for him. You know, this November, we gotta get him in.”
Lucidonio voiced frustration at the high taxes on restaurant worker tips, telling the outlet, “You know, people have to wonder. They’re working in 100-degree weather in there.”
“People put tips in our jar, you know, and then to tax those tips that these poor people live day-by-day is a joke. I mean, what else do you want to tax? It’s crazy,” he continued. “I mean, we go, we do all the hard work, we’re out there, and it’s 15, 20 hours a day working hard for our families.
“They just come and say, well, that’s half is mine. It’s ridiculous. The middle class is getting killed. We got to do something about it.”
Trump says he intends to.
[Read More: Pro-Israel Supporters Defend Synagogue Against Mob]
