SALEM, Va. — Former President Donald Trump arrived in Virginia on Saturday ahead of a rally in Salem, a city in Roanoke County. At the same time, Trump's Democratic opponent Kamala Harris spoke to a crowd in North Carolina.
"A special hello to Virginia, I know it well to put it mildly," Trump said Saturday night. " ... I want to begin with a very simple question: Are you better off than you were four years ago?"
This campaign stop would Trump's first visit to Virginia since the Republican candidate went to Arlington Cemetery and a restaurant in Falls Church, Va. on Aug. 26.
The vice president has yet to make a campaign stop in Virginia.
Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin spoke to the crowd ahead of Trump's appearance, encouraging voters to vote for Trump and other Republican candidates on the ballot in the commonwealth.
"On Tuesday, we are going to show the world that Virginia leads again," Youngkin said to the crowd on Saturday.
Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris started Saturday with a rally in Atlanta and then flying to Charlotte to make her pitch to North Carolina voters.
"When I am elected I will walk in on your behalf with my to-do list," Harris said in Atlanta on Saturday. "And at the top of my list is bringing down the cost of living for you. And that will be my focus every day as president -- I will give a middle class tax cut to over 100 million Americans."
Earlier in the day on Saturday, in Gastonia, N.C., Trump also touted his economic record to voters.
"The only reason the stock market is doing well is because they think Trump is going to win," Trump told his supporters in North Carolina, before heading to Virginia. "If I win you are three days away from the best jobs, the biggest paychecks, the brightest economic future that the world has ever seen."
Virginia has not voted for a Republican candidate for president since 2004, when President George W. Bush defeated John Kerry in the state and the election.
In 2020, Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in the commonwealth with 54% of the vote for Biden and 44% of the vote for Trump.
"We win Virginia we win the whole thing no question," Trump said on Saturday night. "Now, it's very possible that without Virginia we win the whole thing, too. But wouldn't it be cool?"
On Tuesday, all 11 House of Representatives seats on the ballot in Virginia. There is also the race between Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, who is running for re-election, and his Republican opponent Navy veteran Hung Cao, as well as a variety of local races. Cao joined Trump on stage in the middle of his speech on Saturday.