Joelle Lang-Fredman
WMAL.com
RICHMOND– (WMAL) The Trump campaign is denying reports that they pulled out from Virginia, despite signs that it switched its focus to other states.
NBC News reported today that three sources disclosed to them that the decision was announced on a conference call Wednesday night and came from Trump’s headquarters in New York.
Corey Stewart, Trump’s former chairman in Virginia who was fired Monday after he organized an unauthorized rally outside the National Republican Committee headquarters, said that he’s heard from two staffers who were told that their jobs are moving to North Carolina.
“It was their impression that the campaign was rolling back out of Virginia, but I can’t confirm that,” Stewart said.
Trump’s campaign, however, released this statement today:
“We remain absolutely committed to winning in Virginia. While we’re reallocating some of our staff strategically to accommodate early voting in nearby priority states such as North Carolina, our campaign leadership and staffing remains strong in Virginia. Together with the RNC and the state Party, we will have all the resources we need to re-take the Commonwealth at the Presidential level in November, as historically early voting in Virginia is much less of a focus for both parties than in some other states such as North Carolina. Virginians are tired of the same old corruption and double-talk from decades-long Washington insiders like Hillary Clinton, and will vote for change in November.”
Geoffrey Skelley, political analyst at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, says that despite this uncertainly, it makes sense for the campaign to pull out because Trump has never been close to winning in Virginia.
“Virginia was always a state that, at least demographically and politically, did not fit Trump all that well,” Skelley said. “He was always behind. He hasn’t led a single poll in Virginia.”
Letting go of Virginia is not only a political move, but a political statement on the well-being of Trump’s campaign.
“To give up on a state, that in the last two presidential elections has been the national bellwether, closest to the national popular vote outcome in both 2018 and 2012 would really have shown that the campaign was in trouble,” Skelley said. “Obviously the campaign is in trouble. ”
In order to win the election now, Trump would need to secure Florida, Pennsylvania , Ohio and North Carolina.
“At this point, Trump has to pull off a quadruple bank shot to win the election,” Skelley said. “That’s a very difficult path to victory.”
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