MOUNT POCONO, Pa.(National Times)- On the road in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, President Donald Trump tried to emphasize his focus on combating inflation, yet the issue that has damaged his popularity couldn\u2019t quite command his full attention. The president told the crowd gathered at a casino and resort in Mount Pocono that inflation was no longer a problem and that Democrats had used the term \u201caffordability\u201d as a \u201choax\u201d to hurt his reputation. But his remarks weaved wildly to include grievances he first raised behind closed doors in his first term in 2018 \u2014 and later denied saying \u2014 asking why the U.S. doesn\u2019t have more immigrants from Scandinavia. \u201cWhy is it we only take people from s\u2014-hole countries, right?\u201d Trump said onstage. \u201cWhy can\u2019t we have some people from Norway, Sweden, just a few?\u201d Trump said he objected to taking immigrants from \u201chellholes like Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia and many other countries.\u201d He added for emphasis that those places \u201care a disaster, right? Filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime.\u201d Tuesday\u2019s gathering in the swing state \u2014 and in a competitive House district \u2014 was an official White House event, yet it seemed more like one of his signature campaign rallies that his chief of staff said he would hold regularly ahead of next year\u2019s midterms. But instead of being in an arena that could draw several thousand attendees, it was held in a conference center ballroom at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, a small town of about 3,000 residents. Voters starting to blame lasting inflation on Republicans. Following dismal results for Republicans in last month\u2019s off-cycle elections, the White House has sought to convince voters that the economy will emerge stronger next year and that any anxieties over inflation have nothing to do with Trump. He displayed a chart comparing price increases under his predecessor, Joe Biden, to prices under his own watch to argue his case. But the overall inflation rate has climbed since he announced broad tariffs in April and left many Americans worried about their grocery, utility and housing bills. \u201cI have no higher priority than making America affordable again,\u201d Trump said. \u201cThey caused the high prices and we\u2019re bringing them down.\u201d As the president spoke, his party\u2019s political vulnerabilities were further seen as Miami voters chose Eileen Higgins to be their first Democratic mayor in nearly 30 years. Higgins defeated the Trump-endorsed Republican Emilio Gonzalez. The president\u2019s reception in the county hosting his Tuesday rally showed he could still appeal to the base, but it was unable to settle questions of whether he could hold together his 2024 coalition. Monroe County flipped to Trump last year after having backed Biden in 2020, helping the Republican win the swing state of Pennsylvania and return to the White House after a four-year hiatus. As home to the Pocono Mountains, the county has largely relied on tourism for skiing, hiking, hunting and other activities as a source of jobs. Its proximity to New York City \u2014 under two hours by car \u2014 has also attracted people seeking more affordable housing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MOUNT POCONO, Pa.(National Times)- On the road in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, President Donald Trump tried to emphasize his focus on combating inflation, yet the issue that has damaged his popularity couldn\u2019t quite command his full attention. The president told the crowd gathered at a casino and resort in Mount Pocono that inflation was no longer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n