By Matthew Holloway |
President Donald J. Trump will be visiting Arizona on Friday according to an announcement from Turning Point Action. Trump will be visiting the border with Mexico on Thursday and holding a rally at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale on Friday. After Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz tread water in Chicago at the DNC with radical leftists breaking down barricades, their opponent, resurgent in the polls, will be touching down in the Arizona battleground and playing to a 20,000 seat arena.
Turning Point Action touted the visit on their website writing, “In his first scheduled rally following the conclusion of the DNC in Chicago; the rally will provide President Trump, Turning Point PAC and Turning Point Action speakers their first opportunity to react to updates and news from the convention, as well as take direct aim at Kamala Harris’ economic proposals that have been widely-criticized by mainstream, and even left-leaning news media as ‘communist’ policies that have ‘failed’ in the Soviet Union, Venezuela, and Argentina.
Harris and Walz rallied in the same arena on August 9. Doubtlessly both campaigns will seek to compare audience sizes and enthusiasm. The Harris event allegedly drew a crowd of 15,000 or 75% occupancy according to the outlet. Based on a study from the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, the event on Friday will be telling with a unique opportunity for an apples to apples comparison. On average in 2024, Trump events have drawn about 5,000 attendees cross 28 rallies so far. Biden, before dropping out, only drew about 1,300 average across the four rallies he held. Meanwhile Harris and Walz have capitalized on post-Biden enthusiasm and played exclusively to larger venues with an average across the six venues so far of about 13,400 attendees.
Trump last played in Arizona to a packed house at the Phoenix Dream City Church, and the 3,000 seat venue was easily overwhelmed by the response. Trump’s rallies routinely have crowd responses that pack houses and overrun venue capacities.
The Trump campaign said in a press release,
“President Donald Trump and JD Vance are heartbroken to see the path of death and destruction left behind by Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Hard-working Arizona families are paying a steep price for Kamala’s dangerously liberal agenda that is devastating American cities with skyrocketing costs and crime ridden streets.
Kamala’s open border policies are fueling a drug crisis in the state. In Maricopa County, more than three people die every day on average due to fentanyl. Over half of the total fentanyl pills entering the country originate from the Arizona border. Fentanyl has overtaken meth as the deadliest drug in Arizona. Enough Fentanyl was seized last year to kill every Arizonan 14 times over.
President Donald Trump and JD Vance will fight to ease the financial pressures placed on households and re-establish law and order in Arizona! We can Make America Great Again by tackling lawlessness head-on, ceasing the endless flow of illegal immigrants across our southern border, and reversing the detrimental effects of inflation by restoring people’s wealth.“
Republican Senate nominee Kari Lake is expected to speak at the rally as well according to her post to X on Monday.
Since President Joe Biden stood down from the 2024 election, Arizona’s battleground status was entrenched with Harris enjoying a bump from 2 to 5 percent in polls according to RealClearPolling. However, in the past two weeks the race has narrowed to within a single percentage point per the RCP average. Prior to Biden’s withdrawal, Trump enjoyed a firm 5-6 point advantage over the former Democrat incumbent that only grew as concerns over Biden’s viability grew.
In Glendale the event’s doors are set to open at 11:00 a.m. and President Trump is expected to deliver his remarks at 4:00 p.m., although other speakers will be presenting starting at 2 p.m.
General admission tickets are available on DonaldJTrump.com.
Matthew Holloway is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
