(NewsNation) — Former President Donald Trump is hoping to ride the momentum from last night’s presidential debate at a rally Friday in Virginia, a state Republicans say is now in play for 2024.
The Trump campaign is claiming success after the debate, and polls indicate that many Americans agree, saying Trump outperformed President Joe Biden. The debate left Democrats anxious after Biden stumbled and appeared to lose his train of thought during answers.
Biden followed the debate with a rally in North Carolina, and Trump headed to Virginia Beach, Virginia, to speak to a crowd of supporters.
The rally hit key themes of Trump’s campaign, including those that were the center of Thursday’s debate. Immigration, tax cuts, his plans to eliminate Biden’s Green New Deal and promises to eliminate transgender content and COVID mask or vaccine mandates in schools.
Trump doubled down on blaming Biden for what he called a failing country and allowing Russia to invade Ukraine. The former president also continued his attacks on Biden, questioning his competence to lead and accusing him of being behind the criminal cases Trump is facing.
Much of the rally echoed Trump’s debate performance. In the wake of the contests, Trump’s campaign believes it has momentum on its side, with supporters feeling confident. One Virginia voter told NewsNation he’s feeling good about the upcoming election.
“President Trump is head and shoulders above President Biden, the country’s fed up. I mean, inflation, it costs so much now just for a simple thing of groceries,” Tom Cruder said. “I think Joe Biden has done enough damage. I think Trump’s gonna overpower him in Virginia.”
Polling from Decision Desk HQ shows the state neck and neck between the two candidates. In 2020, Biden carried Virginia by about 10 percentage points, while this election, metrics suggest the race is in the margin of error.
That means it’s up for grabs for anyone at this point.
Trump is certainly going to claim victory in the debate during his rally before appealing to voters as he continues to hit the campaign trail. Virginia isn’t the only state the campaign thinks is up for grabs. They believe others, including Minnesota and Nevada, provide an opportunity to get to the needed 270 electoral votes.