Why isn't Donald Trump attending the Penn State football game against Ohio State?

Why isn’t Donald Trump attending the Penn State football game against Ohio State?

Posted by author October 30, 2024 Football

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Donald Trump will not be in State College, after all, for the nation’s biggest college football game of the weekend.

But what will the Republican presidential nominee be doing instead of attending Penn State football’s top-five clash with Ohio State Buckeyes in Beaver Stadium?

It’s unclear what initiated the change of plans or if Trump will be attending another event in place of the game. His campaign schedule lists only a 4 p.m. in Salem, Virginia for Saturday.

“The University has been notified that former President Donald Trump will no longer be attending the Ohio State-Penn State football game,” a Penn State spokesman said in an email to the York Daily Record. Wyatt DuBois, director of university public relations, said he was not aware of the reasoning for Trump’s canceled visit.

Officials for Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to questions about why he was not attending.

Trump did hold a campaign rally last Saturday at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center. His previously planned appearance at the PSU-Ohio State game would have come less than 72 hours before Election Day. Last Thursday, Penn State confirmed that “a private citizen” had invited Trump to attend the game as a guest in their suite at Beaver Stadium.

Trump has made several public appearances at college football games, most recently at Alabama’s 41-34 victory against Georgia on Sept. 28. He also attended the Pittsburgh Steelers’ recent victory over the New York Jets in Pittsburg’s Acrisure Stadium.

Pennsylvania looms as perhaps the most important state in what’s widely projected as a historically close election between Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes are the most of any contested swing state.

Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.