Former President Donald Trump stood in the heart of North Philadelphia Saturday and portrayed it as a “wild time” in the city, saying violent crime has surged and vowing to send federal law enforcement if he’s elected.

In an 85-minute speech that included multiple appeals to Hispanic and Black voters, he slammed his rivals as “despicable,” proposed a fighting league for migrants, falsely claimed he’d won the city of Philadelphia in past elections, and described President Joe Biden’s tenure in dark terms.

“Biden’s wave of bedlam and death and terror will begin to recede the moment I take the oath of office,” Trump said. “There are certain places, like places that I know very well here, that are just absolutely out of control.”

Trump’s rally at Temple University’s Liacouras Center was the first time the former president has held one of his signature events in Philadelphia, a city of 1.6 million people wherein registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 7-to-1 margin. Four years ago, the former president received only 5% of the vote in precincts within a half-mile radius of Temple’s campus.

The event put in stark relief the effort the Republican nominee is making to win over voters — especially people of color — in traditionally Democratic strongholds. He recently rallied in Las Vegas and the South Bronx, N.Y. At the rally Saturday, the Trump campaign’s second in Philly this month, signs read: “Philadelphia is Trump country.”

“I was like, Philly? Is he sure?” said Tom Mathena, 47, a Trump supporter and construction worker from Wilmington. “It was a bold move.”

Biden is still expected to win Philadelphia handily. But even a small shift in votes could hand Trump Pennsylvania, a key battleground where he and Biden are polling neck-and-neck and a state that could tilt the Electoral College.