Trump vows to expand map for GOP, win Michigan
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump says he will expand the map for Republicans in the fall by winning deep-blue states like Michigan and New York.
Speaking at a rally in Evansville, Ind., on Thursday, Trump said he is the only GOP candidate with a shot at winning states that have traditionally gone to Democrats.
{mosads}“No Republican other than me will campaign in New York, because they have no chance,” Trump said.
“If someone ever won New York, it totally changes the map, and I think we’ll win New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida,” Trump said.
“We’ll win places that a lot of people say you’re not going to win, that as a Republican you can’t win.”
Trump won primaries in all of those states, but the Democratic nominee will be favored to win each in the general election.
New York last went for the Republican candidate in 1984, while Michigan hasn’t supported the GOP nominee since 1988.
“Michigan is a great example; nobody else will go to Michigan,” Trump said. “We’re going to be encamped in Michigan because I think I can win it.”
The other two states Trump mentioned — Pennsylvania and Florida — are more traditional battleground states that will go a long way in determining who takes the White House and Senate in the fall.
Trump is seeking to beat back criticism from many Republicans who fear he’d be a disastrous general election candidate.
National polls show Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton with a big lead over Trump. Perhaps more troubling for Republicans, surveys from traditionally red states like Arizona show Democrats could be competitive if Trump is the nominee.
Still, there are signs that the Republican establishment is moving behind Trump.
On Thursday, Trump won the support of two influential Republicans: Reps. Bill Shuster (R-Penn.), the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), the Veterans Affairs Committee chairman.
Trump noted at the Indiana rally that he spoke on Thursday with Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who a day earlier praised his foreign policy speech.
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