President Donald Trump predicted he’d win the state of Minnesota in the 2020 election, saying a battle over the Pledge of Allegiance in a city there shows why.
“The Pledge of Allegiance to our great Country, in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, is under siege,” Trump wrote on Twitter on July 11.
“That is why I am going to win the Great State of Minnesota in the 2020 Election. People are sick and tired of this stupidity and disloyalty to our wonderful USA!”
The city council in St. Louis Park, just west of Minneapolis with a population of around 49,000 people, voted unanimously in June to stop reciting the Pledge of Allegiance before their meetings.
The Pledge of Allegiance to our great Country, in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, is under siege. That is why I am going to win the Great State of Minnesota in the 2020 Election. People are sick and tired of this stupidity and disloyalty to our wonderful USA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 11, 2019
Outrage is growing in the Great State of Minnesota where our Patriots are now having to fight for the right to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I will be fighting with you! @foxandfriends
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2019
The vote prompted a huge backlash, drawing national attention including from the president himself.
He previously weighed in on July 9, writing: “Outrage is growing in the Great State of Minnesota where our Patriots are now having to fight for the right to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I will be fighting with you!”
The council held a meeting on July 8 to address the backlash and was urged by residents and others to reverse the previous vote.
The crowd stood and repeated the pledge before the meeting, reported MPR.
Inside the meeting pic.twitter.com/a1WbQasBe8
— Nina Moini (@ninamoini) July 8, 2019
Video footage from a local broadcaster showed the crowd chanting “USA!” and waving American flags.
Nearly 100 protesters crammed into the meeting room to try to get the decision reversed, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported.
“Yes, we need to have conversations about inclusion, diversity. Absolutely,” said one of them, Tammy Hopps, as she passed out small American flags. “But we need to do it under this symbol.”
Councilwoman Anne Mavity introduced a proposal that would have local residents and staff members from the city meet and try to figure out the next step. The issue is slated to be discussed again at the council’s study session on July 22.
Trump in Minnesota
Trump famously won the 2016 presidential election by flipping longtime Democratic states to red, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, earning 304 electoral votes to 227 for his opponent Hillary Clinton.
Trump was close to flipping Minnesota, which hasn’t voted for a Republican since 1972, as well.
According to election results published by Ballotpedia, President Barack Obama saw a +7.7 percent vote total in Minnesota in the 2012 election. That margin narrowed considerably the next election, with Clinton ending up with a +1.5 percent over Trump.
Michigan flipped from +9.5 percent for Obama to +0.2 percent for Trump; Pennsylvania flipped from +5.4 percent for Obama to +0.7 percent for Trump; Wisconsin flipped from +6.9 percent for Obama to +0.8 percent for Trump.
Americans who voted for Obama and switched their votes to Trump had a number of reasons, including the businessman’s stated defense of the Second Amendment, his vocal pro-life agenda, and his stated intent to nominate conservative judges to federal court vacancies, according to the book “The Great Revolt.”
According to the Democracy Fund Voter Study Group, such voters represented 5 percent of voters in 2016. The group previously reported that they made up 9 percent of voters. According to another tally, just over 13 percent of Trump’s voters backed Obama while about 4 percent of Clinton’s voters backed Republican Mitt Romney in 2012.