By Ivy L. Alarcón 
Former President Donald Trump will host an event in Schnecksville, Lehigh County, this Saturday, April 13. It will take place at the Schnecksville Fire Hall on 4550 Old Packhouse Road. Doors will open at 3 p.m., and Trump is scheduled to deliver his remarks four hours later, at 7 p.m. On the same day, he will also hold a fundraising event in Bucks County. This will mark Trump’s third visit to the state this year. In February, during a National Rifle Association (NRA) meeting in Harrisburg, Trump repeated his false claim of winning Pennsylvania in the 2020 elections.
During his appearance at the NRA event, he assured the audience that “nobody will lay a finger on your firearms” if he was elected, among other questionable statements.
A week later, he unveiled a new line of sneakers branded with the Trump name in a surprise appearance at Sneaker Con in Philadelphia. This came after receiving an order from a judge to pay $355 million in retaliation and being banned from owning any businesses in New York.
The Lehigh County, where the rally will take place, is set to play a significant role in the showdown between Trump and President Joe Biden. In 2020, Biden won Lehigh County by less than 8 percentage points. Earlier this year, Biden visited the county to promote an economic recovery message as he seeks to retain it in November. Both politicians have been trying to reach out to Latino voters in the region. U.S. Representative Susan Wild, a Democrat representing the Lehigh Valley, won by just under 2 percentage points in the 2022 midterm elections, and Republicans have their eyes on her seat. Bucks County is represented by U.S. Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, a moderate Republican who has not yet stated whether he will endorse the former president in November.
Biden defeated Trump in Lehigh County in the 2020 elections by 14,000 votes, and in Bucks County by just over 17,000 votes. Trump won Pennsylvania in 2016, but Biden turned the state blue in 2020, winning by just over 80,000 votes. At the end of last month, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party opened coordinated campaign offices across the state, including three in Bucks County, as well as in traditionally “red” counties like Lancaster and York.
Meanwhile, leveraging the event, the car dealership Fread Beans has utilized the area where Trump’s appearance will take place as a marketing tool. Due to the demographic profile of the candidate, particularly his high-income levels, they have strategically positioned their new Ford Bronco model with sales information for potential buyers.
