Kamala Harris and Donald Trump hold rival events in battleground Pennsylvania
PENNSYLVANIA (WPVI) -- Former President Donald Trump was in Oaks, Pennsylvania on Monday as the presidential elections draws closer.
Trump has been making regular appearances in what is the country's largest battleground state - just last week, he made stops in both Scranton and Reading.
At the Philadelphia Expo Center, where Trump held his town hall, the event was disrupted twice when people required medical attention inside the venue.
After those brief delays, voters got back to questioning the former president on issues important to them. Trump took questions from the crowd for about 90 minutes.
"Immigration scares me. I travel for work, I've seen a lot of the cities as I travel. It just feels not as safe as it used to be," said Jen Riddell from Eagleville.
Riddell told Action News she believes Trump will ease her fears and fix the problem.
"We have a criminal Aliens Act Of 1798. Its gives the power, tremendous power, to do what has to be done to secure our border," Trump said regarding the deportation of criminals.
Moderator South Dakota Governor Kristin Noem was critical of Vice President Kamala Harris' leadership on border security during the event.
Other topics on voters' minds included home ownership, inflation, the economy, and global conflict.
"I'm gonna try and I think I can get it ended as president elect. In other words before I even take office," Trump said regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Responding to a man who said his dream of homeownership feels out of reach, Trump said regulations make it too expensive to build in some places. He repeated his pledge to increase U.S. oil drilling, which he said would drive down costs, though domestic production is already at record highs.
"We're going to drill baby drill, we're going to have so much energy and we're going to bring prices down," Trump said.
He also claimed that government data from crime statistics to jobless numbers is "fake," alleging the numbers are manipulated to help the incumbent Democrats.
Outside the venue, town hall workers were registering voters, showing how crucial Pennsylvania will be in the upcoming election.
"We win Pennsylvania, we win the whole thing," said Trump.
Meanwhile, Harris was on the opposite end of the state on Monday. She rallied in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Harris' called Erie a "pivot" area for her campaign, a Democratic-majority city of about 94,000 people bordered by suburbs and rural areas with significant numbers of Republicans. Erie County is often cited as one of the state's reliable bellwether regions, where the electorate has a decidedly moderate voting record. Trump visited Erie on Sept. 29.
Harris also talked up early voting during her rally. Mail-in voting is well underway in the state where some 7 million people are likely to cast votes in the presidential race.
"If you have already received your ballot in the mail, please do not wait," Harris urged her supporters. "Fill it out and return it today or tomorrow. But please get it out."
Pennsylvania and its 19 electoral votes, the most of any swing state, have generated the most attention by far from the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns. Including Monday's scheduled events, they will have made 46 stops in the state, according to Associated Press tracking of the campaigns' public events.
Michigan, with 33 visits, and Wisconsin, with 29, are the next most-visited states, illustrating how both campaigns are focusing on winning states that had been part of the Democrats' so-called "blue wall" until Trump emerged as the Republican standard-bearer.
Democrats have won three straight elections for Pennsylvania governor, and both current U.S. senators are Democrats, but the state's legislature is closely divided.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
