By Steve Holland
SCRANTON, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will stage a rally in President Joe Biden's hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday as he looks to win over the blue-collar voters who have traditionally been Biden loyalists in the critical state.
It will be Trump's second visit in just five days to Pennsylvania, as he holds rallies in regions heavily populated by the working-class, who are seen as a key voting bloc in the hard-fought race between Trump and his Democratic challenger Kamala Harris.
While Biden is mostly associated with Delaware as a former senator there, Scranton is a fabled part of his origin story. He was born in the industrial city and grew up in a modest home.
Biden won the Democratic stronghold of Lackawanna County, due in large part to Scranton, by nine points in 2020, outperforming Hillary Clinton in 2016, who won the county by under four points.
Trump is locked in a tight battle with Vice President Harris in Pennsylvania, a battleground state whose 19 electoral votes are likely to prove crucial to who wins the Nov. 5 election.
Both candidates are making a concerted effort to win the state. Trump drew a large crowd when he returned on Saturday to the Butler, Pennsylvania, site where he was grazed in the ear by an attempted assassin on July 13.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, who was with Trump in Butler, plans more Pennsylvania campaigning for the former president, a source said, while Democratic former President Barack Obama is expected in the state on Thursday to give Harris a boost.
In addition to Trump's visit to Scranton, a second event in Reading, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, will give him another opportunity to try to appeal to working-class voters. Some polls show he has been gaining ground with this bloc.
Trump has made the U.S. economy a central theme of his campaign, promising tariffs on some imports to increase the production of goods in the United States and boost employment.
The most recent Reuters-Ipsos poll said respondents reported the economy as the top issue facing the country. It said some 44% said Trump had the better approach on addressing the "cost of living," compared to 38% who picked Harris.
Democrats have said Trump's attempt to preserve his 2017 slashing of the corporate tax rate shows the limits of his caring for blue-collar workers.