Donald Trump bashes early voting before quickly pulling a U-turn at Pennsylvania rally

Indiana, Pennsylvania - Donald Trump dismissed early voting as "stupid" but still encouraged voters in Pennsylvania to cast ballots as soon as possible

Donald Trump encouraged his supporters to vote early and railed against migrants in a Pennsylvania rally on Monday.
Donald Trump encouraged his supporters to vote early and railed against migrants in a Pennsylvania rally on Monday.  © REUTERS

"If we win Pennsylvania, we win the whole thing. It's very simple," he said to the crowd in the town of Indiana.

"Go out, make a plan to vote early, vote absentee or vote in-person on election day," Trump urged.

"You can start right away, you know that, right? Now we have this stupid stuff where you can vote 45 days early," the 78-year-old added, as he again floated baseless questions about early voting in 2020, when he lost Pennsylvania and the election to Joe Biden.

Vivek Ramaswamy evades endorsing Trump's pet-eating claims during Springfield "unity" town hall
Donald Trump Vivek Ramaswamy evades endorsing Trump's pet-eating claims during Springfield "unity" town hall

"I wonder what the hell happens during that 45 (days)," he asked. "What happened the last time was disgraceful, including right here. But we're not going to let it happen again."

Trump has routinely said on the campaign trail he prefers one-day voting. But in a bid to neutralize the advantage Democrats have had in recent elections with early voting, his campaign has been encouraging Republicans to cast ballots before election day.

Trump repeats racist Ohio lies

Trump repeated racist lies about Haitian immigrants in the Ohio city of Springfield.
Trump repeated racist lies about Haitian immigrants in the Ohio city of Springfield.  © REUTERS

Trump also spent much of his rambling, 90-minute address on immigration, reprising his racist imagery of "murderers" and other "evil" migrants pouring across the border and taking over communities.

"If Kamala Harris wins this election, she will flood Pennsylvania's cities and towns with illegal migrants from all over the world, and Pennsylvania will never be the same," he claimed.

"We'll end the invasion of small-town Pennsylvania and we will end the destruction of America."

Biden and Harris meet UAE leader for talks on crises in Middle East and Sudan
Joe Biden Biden and Harris meet UAE leader for talks on crises in Middle East and Sudan

Trump then proceeded to lie about Kamala Harris, claiming she "flies in thousands and thousands of migrants from the most dangerous places on Earth."

He of course mentioned Springfield, the Ohio city where he and other Republicans have stoked racist falsehoods about Haitian immigrants eating residents' cats and dogs. Charleroi, a Pennsylvania town of 4,000 people, was the new target of a new lie about a supposed 2,000% increase in population due to immigration.

Trump also touched on another issue important to Pennsylvania voters: energy, and more specifically fracking, a form of natural gas extraction that Harris once opposed, but now says she supports.

"If anybody here believes that she will let your industry continue, like fracking, you should immediately go to a psychiatrist and have your head examined," Trump said, to cheers.

Cover photo: REUTERS

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