COVINGTON TWP Pa., Nov. 1, 2024- As the month of November arrives, so does this year’s presidential election. Out of the past few elections, this year has received the most attention in recent memory. The presidential candidates, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris, have traveled all across the country in order to spread their message and gain voters come Election Day. Trump has decided to attend sporting events as a tool to grow his campaign. This weekend, Trump originally planned on attending one of the biggest matchups of the 2024-25 college football season. The matchup in question being Ohio State vs Penn State in Happy Valley. However, as of Wednesday, Penn State University announced that the former President would not be in attendance. This decision has left many wondering what attending this high stakes matchup has done for Trump’s campaign.
Despite the popularity around the election and the game, young Americans believe that attending this game would not have had any major impact on voters. Senior Joe DiMattio says that when Trump’s team announced that he would be in Beaver Stadium, he found it “pretty funny.” In general, DiMattio says that he doesn’t really know how this could have influenced Trump’s campaign, but he does believe that “it probably would not have done much.” Despite the chaos surrounding this situation, Joe believes that the ranked showdown “will be a great game.”
Seasoned voters also would not have been too moved by Donald Trump being in town for a second straight week. Mr. Greg Dolhon believes that when it comes to political figures going to major sporting events to gain attention, “it doesn’t do as much as they and the voters think.” Mr. Dolhon doubled down on his previous statement saying, “I don’t think Donald Trump or any other candidate showing up at a game is ever really going to make a difference.” His reasoning behind his opinion is the timeframe left in the election. Mr. Dolhon thinks that “most people have their minds made up by now,” so the effect of being in Happy Valley would have little to no effect on what decisions will be made come Election Day.
As previously stated, Donald Trump was just in State College for a rally last Saturday, October 26, 2024. Despite being a college town in the middle of rural Pennsylvania, the rally managed to gain thousands of attendees from both ends of the political spectrum. Even though Donald Trump will not be back this Saturday, the energy and buzz around the game has only grown. This top five matchup will kick off at noon on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on FOX.
