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Former President Donald Trump teased a visit to Virginia in a press release on Wednesday afternoon with no additional details. It is unclear if Trump means he plans to come to Virginia prior to the gubernatorial election taking place Tuesday.
This comes just hours after President Joe Biden campaigned for the Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe in Arlington. “Chanting, ‘We love Trump’ in Arlington, Va. Thank you, Arlington, see you soon,” the former president said in a press release, providing no additional details.
Politico reported Wednesday night that Trump will not be coming to Virginia before Tuesday.
Trump lost to Biden by 10 points in 2020 and has not been called upon so far by the Republican gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin to stump for him this year. Youngkin, in general, has tried to keep Trump at a distance to not dissuade moderates across the commonwealth from supporting him.
Trump participated in a rally with his former senior advisor Steve Bannon earlier this month where he talked about the 2020 election being stolen from him. Participants at that event also pledged allegiance to a flag that they were told was present at the Jan. 6 rally in Washington D.C. Youngkin called it “weird and wrong.”
Youngkin has said on several occasions that Biden is the legitimate president, though he also touted a focus on election integrity early in his campaign and participated in an election integrity rally at Liberty University over the summer.
Youngkin and McAuliffe are locked in a tight race as the race winds down to the final days. The latest polling shows a dead heat with Democrats leading slightly, within the margin of error, in all three statewide races. In addition to the governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general all 100 House of Delegates seats are up for reelection.
While Trump was president, Democrats in the House flipped 21 seats and took the majority for the first time in a couple of decades. Democrats would love for Trump to make an appearance to fire up the base against them as they attempt to keep that majority this cycle.
McAuliffe is already fundraising off of the message from Trump. “Trump just announced he’s coming to Virginia to campaign for Glenn Youngkin 6 days before election day,” McAuliffe’s campaign sent in a text, which was first reported by Laura Vozzella of the Washington Post.
The Youngkin campaign did not respond to calls for comment.
Election day is Nov. 2.
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