Trump will open a Philadelphia campaign office on Tuesday, RNC says

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign will open an office in Philadelphia on Tuesday, according to a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee.

The spokesperson was unable to furnish details. The news came just as a New York jury found Trump guilty on all of the felony counts of falsifying business records in his hush money trial, making him the first former president and first major-party presidential candidate to be convicted of felony crimes.

According to reports, U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt (R., Texas), a high-profile Black Republican, has been tapped to be a guest at the office opening. Hunt’s office did not respond to requests for information. Trump, like President Joe Biden, has been working to gain support among African American voters, especially in Philly, where a strong showing could tip the scales in a key swing state.

Hunt, an Army veteran and West Point graduate, said last summer that Biden is working to “put President Trump in prison before he gets back in the White House.”

The Biden campaign already has two official offices in the city, in Roxborough and Brewerytown, and a third site in Center City, where some staffers are working.

Up until now, political observers say, Trump’s campaign has relied more on rallies to speak to voters in Pennsylvania than on campaign offices with organized get-out-the-vote efforts. He held a rally in Wildwood, a popular Shore destination for Philadelphia area residents, last month.

The Biden campaign has 24 offices in the state.

Its Center City office near 18th and Market Streets is one of 14 the campaign opened last month in Pennsylvania, a swing state with 19 electoral votes. Half of the offices are in voter-rich Philadelphia and its collar counties, including three offices in Bucks County, a critical swing area.

Biden was in Philadelphia on Wednesday to kick off his campaign’s “Black Voters for Biden-Harris” effort and attend an event with local business owners nearby.

He was joined at the rally by Vice President Kamala Harris, who touted the Biden administration’s accomplishments on issues that disproportionately affect Black voters, such as lowering the cost of insulin for diabetes patients and working to eliminate student debt.

“It’s possible Trump’s people have identified a bunch of voters who might flip to him,” said Drexel University professor Richardson Dilworth, speculating on why the Trump campaign is opening an office now.

“Given what I’ve seen, there’s been some weakness reflected in the polls for Biden among Black voters. They’re growing increasingly soft on him.”