PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. — Fighting as a party of one, Donald Trump vowed Saturday to press into Democratic strongholds over the campaign’s final days as Hillary Clinton looked to an army of A-list celebrities and politicos to defend her narrowing path to the presidency.
The divisive Republican outsider conceded he was largely on his own – even as he promised to march into Minnesota, a state that hasn’t backed a Republican presidential nominee in more than four decades.
“Hillary Clinton has all of these celebrities and failed politicians out campaigning for her,” a defiant Trump declared in North Carolina, one of four battleground states he was visiting on Saturday. “I just have me, but I have my family.”
Democrat Clinton faced dark skies in Florida, fighting intense rain and wind in a key battleground state before a Pennsylvania appearance with pop singer Katy Perry. Clinton was preparing to campaign Sunday with basketball superstar LeBron James, having shared the stage the night before with music diva Beyoncé and hip hop mogul husband Jay Z.
“My personal favorite part – Beyoncé had her backup singers in pantsuits” Clinton said with a laugh in Pembroke Pines, Florida.
The final-days scramble highlighted sharp differences between the campaigns in a turbulent 2016 campaign season.
Backed by President Obama and her party’s political elite, Clinton spent much of the last year fighting to unify Obama’s coalition of minorities and younger voters, aided at times by Trump’s deep unpopularity among women in both parties.
Trump has courted working-class white voters on the strength of his own celebrity, having scared off many would-be Republican allies during a campaign marred by self-created crises.
House Speaker Paul Ryan campaigned Saturday alongside Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence – a rare show of unity, but not with Trump himself.
The speaker encouraged Republicans to “come home” to support Trump in Ryan’s home-state Wisconsin.
Trump has frustrated party leaders in many ways, particularly by ignoring the hard work that fuels most successful modern-day campaigns.
The Republican outsider has no significant staffing presence in key states. And he has been unwilling to invest in a major advertising campaign to keep pace with his Democratic rival.
Clinton’s campaign has spent more than $267 million in television advertising through Election Day. Trump, who claims a net worth of roughly $10 billion, has invested $93 million, according to Kantar Media.
Rather than hunkering down in must-win Florida this weekend, Trump flew Saturday to Democratic-leaning territory: Wilmington, North Carolina, then Reno, Nevada, and Denver. He promised to make subsequent appearances in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Minnesota.
“We’re going into what they used to call Democrat strongholds, where we’re now either tied or leading,” he said in Florida.
Later in the day in North Carolina appearance, he mocked Clinton’s schedule: “She doesn’t have what it takes to do rallies all over the place. She wants to go home and go to sleep.”
Trump may not have Clinton’s celebrities, but he has relied on his family at times.
On Saturday, he made a rare stop with his wife, Melania Trump, whose appearance came as The Associated Press revealed more details about her early employment in the U.S.
The AP found that Melania Trump was paid for modeling jobs worth $20,056 that occurred in the seven weeks before she had legal permission to work in the country, according to documents from 20 years ago.
Trump campaigned Saturday with retired football coach Lou Holtz and actor Joe Piscopo. An event with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie that was scheduled for Saturday was canceled after two of his top aides were found guilty Friday for their roles in the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal.
“We do it the old-fashioned way,” Trump said.
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