Despite the faux outrage and contrived controversy in the political and media establishment over President Donald Trump’s feud with the “Squad” in the Democrat-controlled House, the president has seemingly embraced the battle that he believes will ultimately turn out in his favor.
The president specifically called out Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar in a tweet on Monday which claimed that, due to her anti-American antics and spiteful opposition to his policies, he will emerge victorious in her state in the 2020 election.
Bold prediction
Trump tweeted on Monday: “In 2016 I almost won Minnesota. In 2020, because of America hating anti-Semite Rep. Omar, & the fact that Minnesota is having its best economic year ever, I will win the State!”
Citing a recent quote from Omar and referencing the rest of the progressive socialist Squad led by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the president added: “‘We are going to be a nightmare to the President,’ she say[s]. No, AOC Plus 3 are a Nightmare for America!”
The president’s prediction comes on the heels of a series of controversial tweets that sparked a well-publicized back-and-forth between himself and the Squad.
Minnesota’s upswing
Trump did indeed almost win the state of Minnesota in the 2016 election, falling short of failed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by only about 44,000 votes.
If Trump is able to take Minnesota in 2020, he will be the first Republican candidate since Richard Nixon in 1972 to do so.
As for the improved economic status of the state, Minnesota — like many other states in the union — has experienced an incredible economic boom since President Trump took office, especially in terms of mining and manufacturing jobs in the northern “Iron Range” region.
Key campaign target
His feud with Omar aside, there is little doubt that President Trump’s re-election campaign will devote significant energy to the state of Minnesota as a potential win.
He has already held several rallies and events there highlighting the improved economy and will certainly continue to visit Minnesota consistently between now and the election to gain the support of as many of that state’s voters as possible.
The slim margin by which Trump lost in 2016 and the economic gains that have been realized since then, taken together with the overt anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism displayed routinely by Omar, have all given the president confidence that Minnesota is a state ripe for flipping to the Republican side in 2020’s Electoral College tally.
The fact that winning there would be nothing less than a devastating blow to the anti-Trump Omar — even if she herself manages to be re-elected to Congress — is really just an added benefit to placing that state in the GOP’s victory column.