Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump promised this Wednesday to increase US energy production if he is again elected to the White House. The former President went to President Joe Biden’s hometown – Scranton, Pennsylvania, the most important of the decisive states – looking to reinforce his appeal among workers.
This was Trump’s second visit to Pennsylvania in just five days, where he holds rallies in regions populated by the working class, seen as a key voting bloc in the tight race between the former president and his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris.
The two candidates are locked in a tight race in Pennsylvania, a swing state whose 19 electoral votes are crucial in deciding who wins the November 5 election. Without Pennsylvania, any of the presidential candidates cannot reach the White House.
“If we win Pennsylvania, we win it all,” Trump told thousands of supporters in Scranton.
Trump’s speech was heavily focused on energy production, an important issue for workers employed in energy production through hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) in Pennsylvania.
Harris, the vice president, had long opposed this method of fossil fuel extraction, but changed her position to support it when she became the Democratic candidate.
“We will make Pennsylvania an energy supplier to the entire world, and I will cut your energy prices in half,” Trump said.
“On day one, ‘frack, frack, frack’ and ‘drill, drill, drill,'” Trump said, assuring that “we will have energy independence and energy dominance.”
Gasoline prices have risen during the Biden administration, but recently there have been significant declines, and experts believe gas pump prices are expected to fall below $3 per gallon (about 3.7 liters) by the end of October.
In addition to Trump promising an increase in energy production, he made the usual rounds of unconnected subjects, and proclaimed his friendship with Elon Musk, CEO of electric car manufacturer Tesla. Musk appeared with Trump at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, and plans more campaigns for the former president in the state, as well as supporting the Trump campaign’s field operations.
While Biden is most associated with Delaware, as the state’s former senator, Scranton is a legendary part of its origin story. The current President of the USA was born in the industrial city and grew up in a modest house.
Biden won the Democratic stronghold of Lackawanna County, largely due to Scranton, by 9 percentage points in 2020, edging out Democrat Hillary Clinton, who in 2016 won the county by less than 4 points — and lost the state of Pennsylvania by less of 45 thousand votes among almost six million voters.
Trump has made the US economy a central issue of the Republican campaign, promising tariffs on some imports to increase the production of goods in the United States and boost employment. The proposal is widely criticized by economists, who point to rising prices for North American consumers as one of the likely consequences.
The most recent Reuters-Ipsos poll is yet another to show that voters consider the economy the main problem facing the country. About 44% of respondents said Trump had the best approach to dealing with the “cost of living,” compared to 38% who chose Harris.
Source: rr.sapo.pt
