Trump widens lead in swing states as Vance called upon to secure the Rust Belt. Is America unifying around Trump?

Former President Donald Trump has widened his lead against incumbent President Joe Biden in the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to the latest polling data from Emerson compiled July 15 to July 16. Trump is leading Biden in Arizona 46 percent to 36 percent, in Georgia 44 percent to 39 percent, in Michigan 43 percent to 40 percent, in Nevada 47 percent to 38 percent, in Pennsylvania 46 percent to 40 percent and in Wisconsin 46 percent to 43 percent. If that’s what happens on Election Day, Trump would garner 312 Electoral College votes to Biden’s 226. But Trump is not leaving anything to chance, and has tapped Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), who comes from humble working class origins, as his Vice Presidential running mate with one mission: To help win Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, the Rust Belt states hollowed out by globalization that put Trump over the top in 2016 in his victory over Hillary Clinton, running against free trade that ships jobs overseas, illegal immigration that takes many of the remaining jobs at home and also the endless foreign interventions that now risk a world war. But in addition to bolstering his political support in key swing states that will make the difference in 2024, and besides the immediate needs of the election is the specter of the near-fatal assassination attempt on Trump’s life on July 13 in Butler, Pa. — and what might have happened if it had succeeded. But for Trump turning his head, and the nation might be on an accelerated path to civil war right now. We may yet be on that road, however, and so much depends on our leaders including Trump's ability and willingness to turn back from the brink as he promises to restore national unity. Can we achieve reconciliation?

Video: Peter Navarro addresses the RNC: 'I went to prison so you don't have to'

Former Trump White House advisor Peter Navarro has been released from federal prison and declared at the 2024 Republican National Convention, “I went to prison, so you don’t have to.”

Video: We’re Lucky President Trump is Still Alive

God blessed America by keeping President Trump alive, and I don't want to imagine what this world looks like right now if he hadn't turned his head.

Navarro released from prison

Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning: “The political prosecution and imprisonment of Peter Navarro for having the audacity to claim executive privilege in response to a Congressional subpoena has come to an end. It is astonishing that the Biden administration would choose to prosecute a political opponent with all of the inherent risks to our nation that it entails in order to put someone in jail for four months. This same Justice Department, which prosecuted both Navarro and former Trump White House advisor Steve Bannon, for failing to testify to Congress, over their executive privilege claims, at the same time, is led by an Attorney General claiming executive privilege in defiance of a Congressional subpoena and found in contempt of Congress. Naturally, Biden’s DOJ is refusing to prosecute itself for violating the very same law, exemplifying the current two-tiered justice system.”

By Robert Romano

Former President Donald Trump has widened his lead against incumbent President Joe Biden in the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to the latest polling data from Emerson compiled July 15 to July 16.

Trump is leading Biden in Arizona 46 percent to 36 percent, in Georgia 44 percent to 39 percent, in Michigan 43 percent to 40 percent, in Nevada 47 percent to 38 percent, in Pennsylvania 46 percent to 40 percent and in Wisconsin 46 percent to 43 percent.

If that’s what happens on Election Day, Trump would garner 312 Electoral College votes to Biden’s 226.

But Trump is not leaving anything to chance, and has tapped Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), who comes from humble working class origins, as his Vice Presidential running mate with one mission: To help win Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, the Rust Belt states hollowed out by globalization that put Trump over the top in 2016 in his victory over Hillary Clinton, running against free trade that ships jobs overseas, illegal immigration that takes many of the remaining jobs at home and also the endless foreign interventions that now risk a world war.

In his acceptance speech, Vance promised to keep Trump’s promise to the forgotten men and women who have suffered these economic shifts: “To the people of Middletown, Ohio, and all the forgotten communities in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and every corner of our nation: I promise you this — I will be a vice president who never forgets where he came from. And every single day for the next four years, when I walk into that White House to help President Trump, I will be doing it for you. For your family, for your future and for this great country.”

Here, Trump through Vance is reassuring those who supported him in 2016 and 2020 that he has not forgotten the mission that he set out for himself to restore American industrial capacity to make its own goods, whether technology or energy or other commercial goods. We need rare earth minerals of our own. We need to keep drilling oil and gas of our own. Generally, we need to not be dependent on global supply chains that are becoming increasingly taxed by increasing demand and limited supply, which exacerbates price inflation that households and businesses are suffering through.

But in addition to bolstering his political support in key swing states that will make the difference in 2024, and besides the immediate needs of the election is the specter of the near-fatal assassination attempt on Trump’s life on July 13 in Butler, Pa. — and what might have happened if it had succeeded.

But for Trump turning his head, and the nation might be on an accelerated path to civil war right now. We may yet be on that road, however, and so much depends on our leaders including Trump's ability and willingness to turn back from the brink as he promises to restore national unity. I hope we can preserve the Union, but I fear we will be unable to.

Forbes-HarrisX just did a poll on July 13 to July 15 where 59 percent said the assassination attempt would only divide the country further, with only 41 percent who believe it could lead to more unity and a curbing of calls to violence.

Republicans (i.e. Trump supporters) were the only group relatively optimistic unity is possible (58 percent say unity, 42 percent say divided further), whereas 72 percent of Democrats and 62 percent of independents say we will be divided further. So, the assassination attempt could just be one more lit match on the powder keg.

What Trump does next matters — a lot — with his July 18 acceptance speech to be delivered in just a few short hours. I'm personally optimistic but I'm also biased which gives me a blind spot. I want to believe Trump can lead us out of this but Democrats and independents are concerned that the assassination attempt will only make things worse.

Meaning, even as Trump calls for unity and national reconciliation, he might be unable to lead us from the worst if others take matters into their own hands, as happened after Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860 when the secession crisis began.

A few short weeks ago, nobody wanted to or thought to contemplate what if the worst happened as it related to an assassination attempt. Today, the prospects of what a successful assassination might have provoked, including a civil war, are uncomfortable to discuss. But at this critical moment it is important to highlight what the dangers are of civil strife and national division when they reach the boiling point.

To avert war or to make one exceedingly unlikely, both political parties' freedoms should be respected and we must agree to protect one another’s liberties, not to censor one another, not to prosecute one another. These are the tools of tyrants that have appeared to become more frequent. Is war necessary to precede reconciliation, or can we just skip to the reconciliation part?

At first, after the assassination attempt, I thought maybe we had averted such a terrible outcome, but now, my concerns return as the shock wears off and all the warning signs are still there. Do Trump and Biden see any way to prevent the worst? Can this marriage be saved? We might be about to find out.

Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.

To view online: https://dailytorch.com/2024/07/trump-widens-lead-in-swing-states-as-vance-called-upon-to-secure-the-rust-belt-is-america-unifying-around-trump/

 

Video: Peter Navarro addresses the RNC: 'I went to prison so you don't have to'