First lady Melania Trump will make her first solo campaign appearance of the year in Pennsylvania a week before Election Day

• First lady Melania Trump will join the campaign trail on Tuesday in Pennsylvania after a long absence.
• This will mark her first solo campaign event this year and will be one of her first major appearances since being diagnosed with COVID-19.
• Last week, the first lady was scheduled to appear with the president at a rally in Erie, but she pulled out of the event due to a lingering cough following her coronavirus diagnosis.
• Her appearance is likely aimed at shoring up support with suburban female voters, who in multiple statewide polls have preferred Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
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First lady Melania Trump will hit the campaign trail on Tuesday in Pennsylvania, her first solo campaign event this year and one of her first major appearances since being diagnosed with the coronavirus in early October.

The first lady is slated to headline an event on behalf of President Donald Trump in Atglen, a Chester County borough nestled in the Philadelphia suburbs, a pivotal region where the president is currently struggling, especially with female voters. The event will be moderated by former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway.

On October 20, the first lady was scheduled to appear with the president at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, but she had to pull out due to a lingering cough following her coronavirus diagnosis. Her last campaign appearance was at the president’s June 2019 reelection kickoff event in Orlando, Florida.

Over the past few months, most major polling has shown the president trailing Democratic challenger Joe Biden in the Keystone State, which has 20 electoral votes. The state narrowly supported Trump in 2016 after previously backing Democratic presidential nominees for an uninterrupted 20-year period, and he considers the state to be a critical part of his reelection calculus.

Melania Trump’s appearance is likely aimed at connecting with suburban female voters, a demographic where his support is currently lagging.

For his part, the president will hold a trio of rallies in Pennsylvania on Monday — in Allentown, Lititz, and Martinsburg, areas where he performed strongly in 2016. 

The first lady has long been a reluctant surrogate on the campaign trail, although she did give a keynote speech endorsing her husband’s reelection bid at the 2020 Republican National Convention in Washington, DC.