Donald Trump called on evangelical leaders gathered in Orlando, Florida, to help turn out the vote in November, acknowledging that he has been slipping in the polls, particularly in key battleground states.
“We’re having a problem,” Trump told the church leaders, according to the Associated Press. “It could cost us the Supreme Court.”
He listed several swing states that he’s struggling in, including Utah, a state that’s typically safe Republican territory.
“We’re having a tremendous problem in Utah,” Trump said, according to the New York Times. “Utah is different.”
As for Ohio, a state some experts see as key to a Trump victory in November, the Republican nominee said, “We need help,” according to the New York Times.
And Trump indicated that he could struggle to win in Pennsylvania, where he’s also been slipping in the polls.
“Pennsylvania is a little further, but I think we’ll win Pennsylvania because of the miners,” he said, before pivoting to bashing Hillary Clinton, according to the Times. “She wants the miners out of business. She wants steel out of business.”
He told the church leaders gathered that he needs evangelical voters to secure a win in November.
“We’re going to hopefully win, and the way we’re going to win is you have to get your congregations and you have to get parishioners and you have to get all your people to go out and vote,” he said, according to the New York Times.
He said that evangelicals did not turn out in strong enough numbers in 2012 to help Romney win the White House.
“Had you voted for Romney, it would have been much closer,” he said, per the Times. “You didn’t vote for Romney, the evangelicals. Religion didn’t get out and vote.”
This week, Trump has begun to acknowledge that he could lose the election, brushing off that possibility as no big deal. But he has also signaled that he isn’t willing to significantly change his strategy.
“Just keep doing the same thing I’m doing right now,” he said on CNBC Thursday morning when asked how he plans to reverse his drop in the polls. “And at the end, it’s either going to work or I’m going to, you know — I’m going to have a very, very nice, long vacation.”
