Trump touts endorsements from Joe Rogan, baseball legend's son in final battleground pitch: 'Golden age'
Former President Trump touted an American "golden age" if re-elected to the Oval Office while delivering his final campaign pitch to battleground state voters in Pennsylvania, where he was joined by high-profile supporters such as baseball legend Roberto Clemente's son and podcast host Megyn Kelly.
"Your paychecks will be higher. Your streets will be safer and cleaner. Your communities will be richer, and your future will be brighter than ever before," Trump said Monday evening in Pittsburgh.
"This will be the golden age of America," the Republican presidential candidate said to applause and cheers from the crowds.
Trump’s final day on the campaign trail included rallies and stops in North Carolina and Pennsylvania before heading to Grand Rapids, Michigan, later Monday for his final rally before Election Day. While in Pittsburgh, he was joined by Roberto Clemente Jr., a former baseball player and son of the Pittsburgh Pirates legend.
TRUMP RALLIES IN PENNSYLVANIA CITY WITH HIGHEST HISPANIC POPULATION HOURS BEFORE POLLS OPEN
"I'm very proud to be here. For the first time, I had to take a step forward. And it is very important for me to support this man, because I believe tomorrow is a change of time. … The name Clemente, what it means is goodwill and unity. I believe that your team is going to bring it all home," Clemente Jr. told the crowd.
"I believe in everything that you stand for right now, being able to make the change for our families. My three kids that are very young, and we live here in Pennsylvania. And I told this man that I commit myself to helping RFK JR. with … our kids and making America healthy again," the Puerto Rican baseball legend's son continued.
Trump took the stage at Pittsburgh's PPG Paints Arena just after 7:30 p.m. and revealed more than an hour into the rally that he had just heard that podcast host Joe Rogan officially endorsed him for president.
"It just came over the wires that Joe Rogan just endorsed me," Trump said after Megyn Kelly joined him onstage where she rallied support for the Trump-Vance ticket.
"That's so nice. And he doesn't do that. He doesn't do that," Trump continued, noting he did a three-hour podcast interview with Rogan last month. "And he tends to be a little bit more liberal than some of the people in this room."
Pennsylvania is again a key battleground this cycle as Keystone State voters are championed as the ones who will likely determine the outcome of the federal election. Trump narrowly won the state in 2016 when he successfully campaigned against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, but he lost the state in 2020 against now-President Biden.
The former president took shots at his Democrat opponent, Vice President Harris, on Monday evening and noted his pledge to "fix" what the Biden-Harris administration "broke."
"This is all you really need to know. It's simple, not particularly beautiful as a statement, but very simple: Kamala broke it, I will fix it," Trump said.
BIDEN ABSENT FROM CAMPAIGN TRAIL IN HOME STATE AFTER VIRAL ‘SMACK’ GAFFE
Harris is also scheduled to hold an event in Pittsburgh on Monday evening, where she will be joined by a handful of celebrities, including singer Katy Perry, who is expected to perform. Trump dinged Harris for touting celebrities during her campaign events, pointing to pop singer Beyoncé joining Harris in Texas last month, when some attendees reportedly believed Beyoncé would perform during the rally. Beyoncé ultimately only addressed the crowd about her Harris endorsement and did not sing.
"She tried to get stars to come in, and they wouldn't do it, actually," Trump said. "She'd go and get Beyoncé. Beyoncé would come in, everyone's expecting a couple of songs, and there were no songs. There was no happiness. It's just like, ‘Give me my check. I want to get out of here.’ … She should have learned this from Crooked Hillary: Always put the star after you. That way the people stay."
In his final pitch to the state's voters, Trump touched on many of his common campaign points, including ending the illegal immigration crisis and drug crisis.
"They're allowing people to come in from insane asylums and mental institutions from all around the world, from Venezuela to the Congo in Africa. They're stealing our jobs, and they're stealing countless American lives," he said. "They're killing a lot of people, much more than you're reading about. The day I take office, the migrant invasion ends and the restoration of our country begins."
Trump again called for the death penalty for any migrant found guilty of murdering an American citizen and law enforcement agent, which received applause from the crowds. He also explained he will hit Mexico and China with tariffs if the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl is found in the U.S. after originating from those nations.
"We're going to put a tariff on Mexico if they don't immediately stop sending that horrible stuff into this country. And likewise, we're doing it with China if China doesn't stop," he said.
Polls show Trump and Harris are neck and neck in Pennsylvania as both candidates repeatedly visited the state in recent weeks, including repeat rallies in cities such as Reading and Allentown. Trump said during the rally that he's anticipating "a big number in Pennsylvania."
"Tomorrow will be the most important day in the history of our country, and together we will make America powerful again. We will make America wealthy again. We will make America healthy again. We will make America stronger," he said.