Trump Hits Coachella, Campaigning Once Again in a Blue State

The former president took a detour from the battleground states to hold a rally in the California desert, where temperatures hovered near 100 degrees.

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A campaign rally for former President Donald J. Trump in Coachella, Calif., on Saturday.

Both presidential campaigns agree that seven swing states are likely to determine the outcome of this year’s election. California, which has not voted for a Republican in a presidential race since 1988, is not one of them.

But that did not prevent former President Donald J. Trump from heading there anyway on Saturday evening to hold a rally in Coachella, which is better known for its annual music festival with headliners like Lana Del Rey and Bad Bunny than it is for being a stop on a presidential campaign trail.

It was an unusual choice 24 days before the election. In 2020, Mr. Trump lost the state by more than five million votes to President Biden. Four years earlier, Mr. Trump lost the state to Hillary Clinton, who got more than 60 percent of the vote. The last Republican to win the state was George H.W. Bush.

Although Mr. Trump is not expected to be competitive in California, the rally showed that he could turn out a crowd. Throngs of people at Calhoun Ranch, where it was held, braved the desert sun and temperatures that hovered near 100 degrees, with several attendees requiring medical attention for heat-related illnesses.

“I want to give a special hello to Coachella,” Mr. Trump told the crowd, soon acknowledging how hot the desert sun was and putting on a red Make America Great Again cap.

ImageSeveral attendees required medical attention for heat-related illnesses.Credit…Jordan Gale for The New York Times

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