Former President Donald Trump plans to return to the Lehigh Valley next weekend for a rally as he aims for a second term in the White House.
A rally is planned for the Schnecksville Fire Hall on Old Packhouse Road in North Whitehall Township at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 13, according to his campaign website.
A spokesperson for the Republican National Committee confirmed Trump’s visit Friday but did not provide further details.
This will be Trump’s initial visit to the Lehigh Valley of the 2024 election cycle. He will compete against President Joe Biden in the November general election, and recent polls in Pennsylvania show a close race between the two candidates. Pennsylvania, an important swing state, has 19 electoral votes, tied with Illinois for the fifth most votes that could determine the presidency.
The last time Trump visited the Valley was October 2020, when he held a rally in Hanover Township, Northampton County. During that visit, he falsely claimed that only “massive fraud” could explain a re-election loss, highlighted his response to the COVID-19 pandemic and criticized Joe Biden as a “die-hard globalist” who would harm Pennsylvania’s manufacturing industry.
Biden won Pennsylvania by around 80,000 votes in 2020.
The event will also be held before the April 23 primary election. Trump has already secured the Republican nomination for president, but three Republicans are competing for a nomination to represent the Lehigh Valley’s congressional district: lawyer Maria Montero, state representative Ryan Mackenzie and small business owner Kevin Dellicker.
Trump has not publicly supported a specific Republican candidate in the primary.
Mackenzie and Dellicker will both attend the rally, campaign staff confirmed. A spokesperson for Montero was not immediately available for comment.
“I think Trump is going to make a strong contrast between what he has to offer, compared to what Joe Biden has delivered,” Dellicker said in a phone interview. “I look forward to hearing him speak to a supportive and raucous crowd.”
Biden visited the Lehigh Valley in January, highlighting his economic initiatives with small business owners in Emmaus and firefighters in Allentown.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
