Donald Trump and JD Vance rally supporters in NC. Here’s what they said.
Former President Donald Trump painted a grim picture of the world Wednesday during a rally at the Asheboro airport and promised “to restore America to maximum strength and return the world to peace” if he is elected.
He claimed that if Vice President Kamala Harris were elected president, “World War III is virtually guaranteed to happen.”
He spoke broadly about various world conflicts, including the wars between Israel and Hamas and between Russia and Ukraine, blaming Democrats for these conflicts, but did not delve deeply into policy. He spoke on the need to strengthen the military. He also spent much of his speech criticizing various Democratic politicians.
Keying in on one of his main campaign messages, Trump spoke on the increase in illegal immigration under the Biden-Harris administration. He also claimed without foundation that Democrats would “cheat to win the election.”
“If we don’t win this election, we’re in such trouble as a country,” he said. “We’re in trouble right now, but you have the right guy to straighten it out. I’ll get it straightened out,” he said.
“We’re going to have peace through strength all over the world,” he said. “We’re going to make America great.”
Vice presidential candidate JD Vance and Republican surrogates who took the stage before Trump honed in on national security, speaking on what they described as a botched withdrawal from Afghanistan under the Biden-Harris administration, wars across the world and the surge in illegal immigration.
Several North Carolina politicians attended, including U.S. Sen. Ted Budd, gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and House Speaker Tim Moore. Michael Whatley, chair of the Republican National Committee, also attended.
It was the first time that Vance has spoken in North Carolina since becoming Trump’s running mate. It also marks Trump’s fourth visit to the state this year.
Harris, who will formally accept the Democrats’ nomination Thursday night, has visited the state eight times this year. Her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was selected in early August and spoke Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention, has yet to visit. He had been scheduled to visit alongside Harris earlier this month, but both had to cancel due to Tropical Storm Debby. Vance, who planned to visit at the same time, also had to cancel.
In what the Associated Press reported was Trump’s first outdoor rally since the attempt on his life last month, the former president spoke between two airplane hangars, with security atop both buildings and bulletproof glass protecting him.
North Carolina is a battleground state where Republican presidential candidates have largely won, but often by slim margins. Following President Joe Biden’s decision to end his campaign and Harris taking over as the Democratic nominee, Trump has lost some ground in battleground states, including in North Carolina, according to recent polls.
Trump’s speech
Updated 3:06 p.m.: Trump took the stage a bit after 2 p.m. to the song “God Bless the USA” and loud cheers.
“Seventy-six days from now we’re going to win this state and we’re going to win the White House, that beautiful, beautiful building,” said Trump.
Before launching into his speech he brought members from law enforcement, and Robinson, on to the stage to recognize their work. He also shouted out various North Carolina politicians including Budd, Robinson and Moore.
Trump spoke about new data released Wednesday on U.S. job growth which showed fewer jobs in March of this year than were initially reported. He also claimed that five people had been killed in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention. It’s unclear who Trump is referring to, but Fox News reported five people were killed the weekend before the DNC.
Jumping into foreign affairs, Trump said his attitude kept “us out of wars. I stopped wars with phone calls.” He also said the world was close to “a third world war” considering conflicts around the globe.
He also spoke on the Afghanistan retreat under the Biden-Harris administration, the Russia-Ukraine war, which he said would not have occurred with him as president, and launched attacks on former President Barack Obama, calling him by his full name, “Barack Hussein Obama.”
He referred to Obama and his wife Michelle taking shots at him during the DNC.
“They always say, sure, ‘please stick to policy. Don’t get personal;’ And yet they’re getting personal all night long,” he said. He also launched attacks on the media and Democrats, including Harris — dubbing her “comrade” — and Biden.
He said he would re-hire with back pay and an “apology” everyone fired from the military for not getting a COVID-19 vaccine. The military vaccine mandate is no longer in place.
Trump also said “they want to put you in jail for nothing,” appearing to reference the various legal cases filed against him. Most recently, Trump was convicted of 34 felonies for falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments. A case against Trump for mishandling classified military documents was dismissed last month by a Trump-appointed federal judge.
Medic called
Updated 2:52 p.m.: As the day wore on, a few people left intermittently during Trump’s speech or were brought water bottles as the sun bore down on the crowd. Many people had to stand the entire time, with the chairs closest to Trump occupied. People used signs to fan themselves or hold over their heads to offer shade on a hot day.
Right after 2:50 p.m., supporters shouted that a medic was needed. The speech was halted as EMS helped a person in the crowd who had fainted. Later, an elderly woman was also wheeled into a hangar by EMS.
As Trump’s speech continued, a steady stream of people left.
House Speaker Tim Moore at rally
Updated 2:30 p.m.: Moore told The News & Observer that he and others took photos with Trump and Vance in the adjacent hangar.
Moore said after meeting Vance that he is “a nice guy.”
Immigration focus
Updated 2 p.m.: U.S. Sen. Ted Budd and state lawmakers watched Vance’s speech. Staff handed out signs that said “Peace Through Strength” and “47.” Trump would be the 47th president in addition to the 45th; Agenda47 is Trump’s campaign’s platform.
Jenna Young, a business development representative at a car dealership in Asheboro, entered the rally area as Vance was speaking, but enjoyed his message on focusing on U.S. borders as opposed to supporting other countries’ security.
”Our borders, they need to be stricter to keep us safe,” she said. Young said while she hasn’t been personally affected by migrants who entered the U.S. unlawfully, she’s read articles about how they’ve hurt people in other communities. Violent crime rates are declining nationwide.
JD Vance takes the stage
Updated 1:25 p.m.: Vance took the stage just before 1 p.m. to loud chants from the crowd.
“Today is the third day of the Democratic national coronation. Excuse me,” the Ohio senator said, “I meant convention.”
“Conventions normally are about nominating people who actually win elections, and Kamala Harris hasn’t won a single vote for the Democratic Party,” he said, referencing Harris’ rise as the Democratic nominee after Biden dropped out.
He said that Harris’s agenda is not that of the “American people” but instead of donors. He also claimed that Harris wanted to give people in the country illegally the right to vote, which is illegal in federal elections and which Harris has not attempted to change. North Carolina law requires residents to be citizens to register to vote.
He also spoke on the need to “reignite the economy,” curb the opioid epidemic and bring “peace” to the world and safety to the country.
Vance also said that Harris as “border czar” has allowed millions of “illegal aliens” into the country. The GOP has honed in on Harris’s role in 2021 as the point person in charge of examining the causes of increasing immigration, in particular from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
Speaking on fentanyl, Vance said, “I remember being a kid whose mom struggled with addiction” and that, “because of Kamala Harris’s border policies, way too many of our loved ones are not waking up.” He said that fentanyl is available on every street corner but buying a house is unaffordable.
Vance criticized how the Biden administration handled the departure of troops from Afghanistan.
And he accused Walz of lying about his military service. Walz has faced scrutiny over his characterization of his military record.
Vance said Trump would not let China “steal our factories” or jobs.
Democrats predicted Trump “was going to start a nuclear war,” Vance said, “but President Trump knew more about diplomacy than any president of the last 40 years.”
“Donald Trump is the person who prevented nuclear war, and if we’re not careful, Kamala Harris is going to walk us right into nuclear war. We’ve got to kick her out,” he said.
Trump’s plane lands
Updated 2:05 p.m.: Spectators looked up as Trump’s plane arrived just before noon.
House Speaker Tim Moore arrived around 12:30 p.m. and walked past the crowd into a hangar. Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is also attending.
Security was tight as people attending went through metal detectors and had bags checked. At least 100 people were still waiting in line as of 12:50 p.m.
Hudson on Afghanistan
Updated 12:30 p.m.: Rep. Richard Hudson, who is running for reelection in the 9th Congressional District that encompasses military base Fort Liberty, formerly Fort Bragg, said Harris “said she was the last person in the room with Joe Biden when they both decided together to pull out of Afghanistan.”
“It was the most humiliating defeat since the fall of Saigon,” in Vietnam, Hudson said, adding that 13 soldiers died in the retreat from Afghanistan. Harris “should be ashamed,” he said.
He spoke about the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, blaming the Biden-Harris administration.
Referencing Trump’s assassination attempt and his rallying cry to “fight, fight, fight,” Hudson said: “President Trump is ready to fight for you. Are you ready to fight for President Trump?”
After Hudson, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg took the stage and spoke on various current global conflicts.
Program starting up at Trump rally, supporters viewpoints
Updated 1:30 p.m.: The program started just before noon with a color guard, or a detachment of soldiers, and a prayer.
Several seats were empty while hundreds of people waited outside in line. The rally is entirely outside, between airplane hangars. A large U.S. flag was suspended vertically by two cranes near the runway.
Randolph County Sheriff Greg Seabolt took the stage, which was encased with bulletproof glass, likely due to the attempted assassination attempt on Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania.
Kyle Suggs, a political analyst who was standing in line still waiting to enter, said the people at the rally reflect the ethnic diversity of America.
He said Trump shifted the Republican Party to appeal more to people of color.
”It’s such a breadth of America,” he said while standing hundreds of feet from the rally security checkpoint.
He said he supports Trump’s plans to restrict illegal immigration at the southern border.
”It takes this country away from the value system we were founded on,” he said. “That would’ve been a Judeo-Christian, Puritan system.”
Suggs said he supports some legal immigration, but people who come from other countries have to assimilate, he said. America isn’t a pluralist or multicultural nation, said Suggs, who said he was descended from enslaved people from Africa.
Ashley Stone, a photographer and small business owner, came to a Trump rally for the first time.
She brought her son, she said, so he could learn more about government. Stone said under the Biden administration, she and her community, Archdale, have faced heightened financial struggles, even though the current president has touted job growth and economic recovery. ”We have not seen it,” Stone said. “I don’t know where he’s getting his figures from.”
In her community, local firms have seen less business in the past year, Stone said. She also said she “really likes” JD Vance as Trump’s running mate.
”He is so well spoken, even in interviews where they’ve tried to set him up,” Stone said. “His words are just so well thought out.”
Jinsoo Kato, originally from Japan, is traveling with a group to Trump rallies around the U.S. to support the former president.
Their message: Trump is a step toward world peace. He said Biden’s administration has seen more wars around the world than Trump’s.
“Wars are never coincidental,” Kato said. “They’re always set up.”
Democrats strike back
Updated 12 p.m.: Randolph County Democrats gathered in downtown Asheboro ahead of Trump’s event, criticizing Trump over the Project 2025 policy agenda and promoting Harris’ economic plan.
Asheboro City Councilman Bill McCaskill acknowledged Trump would likely win Randolph County, which is heavily red. But he expressed optimism that Harris could pick up some votes in the county — not only from Democrats but also independents and moderate Republicans who don’t like Trump.
“Any votes we can get in Randolph County away from Republicans … will help in the long run,” McCaskill said.
Project 2025 is a political initiative created by conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation. Democrats have said Trump and the GOP are behind the plan, and many of Trump’s former staff reportedly helped create it, but Trump has denied involvement.
Harris unveiled a broad economic policy platform Friday in Raleigh which includes implementing a new ban on “corporate price gouging,” increasing the supply of new homes and rentals and $25,000 in down-payment assistance for first-time homebuyers. Details on how these policies would work and be enacted remain unclear.
In Asheville last week, Trump campaigned on his economic vision, saying if he were elected he’d focus on curbing inflation and tackling supply chain issues. He also pledged to cut energy costs, including via increased oil drilling and the rollback of energy initiatives put in place by the Biden-Harris administration.
During a GOP event last week timed to coincide with Harris’s visit, Whatley was asked by The News & Observer about what the GOP’s housing proposals were. Whatley said the GOP wants to get inflation under control to get more “money in every American family’s pockets.”
“A lot of the problems in terms of new construction are the inflationary costs for labor and for the housing construction costs of wood, aluminum, cement, all of those things. So we bring that down (and) that will have (a) direct impact,” he said.
Trump fan on ‘energy,’ candidates
Updated 12 p.m.: Caleb Ogden, a landscaping business owner from the town of Boiling Springs, is waiting to enter his second Trump rally. He went to one in the 2020 election cycle.
”You can really feel the energy in person more than you do watching on TV,” he said.
Ogden said he supports Trump’s plans to keep jobs in the U.S. and to curb immigration at the southern border. Winning this election — and the support of independent voters — won’t happen with personal attacks against Harris, he added.
While Ogden said he plans to vote for Mark Robinson and Hal Weatherman, he said they may be less moderate than candidates North Carolinians usually vote for. Both Republicans, Robinson is running for governor, while Weatherman is running for lieutenant governor.
The state’s presidential results are also hard to predict, he said.
”Either way, it’s going to be close,” Ogden said.
Pre-rally atmosphere in Asheboro
Updated 11:05 a.m: Hundreds of vehicles, from Mercedes SUVs to sedans to pickup trucks with American flag decals, were backed up near the airport entrance off a residential street at 10:30 a.m.. The aviation museum is located within the Asheboro Regional Airport.
Some houses had Trump-Vance yard signs on display. Small groups in Trump T-shirts and hats walked up the road to the rally.
A solitary protester stood at an intersection holding a handmade sign that read: “No voucher. Free choice. Support Ukraine” on one side, and “Dump Trump” on the other side. Across the street, a vendor was selling Trump flags.
A contingent of attendees, some wearing shirts that say “strong ROK US alliance” and one holding a South Korean flag, marched around the winding line singing “God Bless the USA” and chanting “fight, fight, fight.” The U.S. and the Republic of Korea (ROK) signed a security alliance in 1953.
A retired reporter, Aleta Welch of Asheboro, said this is her first Trump rally. She said she watches him faithfully on television and came to support Trump during his “small town visit.”
Welch said she supports Trump’s policies of cutting taxes and building a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Welch, who said she is currently on Social Security, says she “is looking forward” to Trump cutting taxes on Social Security benefits. Trump has pledged to cut taxes on these senior benefits and has proposed cutting taxes on tips.
Trump, Vance expected to speak about national security
The increase in illegal immigration under the Biden administration has been one of Trump’s main arguments for his presidential campaign, and he promises a historic deportation effort if he’s elected again.
A day before Trump’s rally at state Republican Party headquarters in Raleigh, NC GOP Chair Jason Simmons said that over the last three and a half years, Biden and Harris had embroiled the world and the country in “chaos” with wars between Ukraine and Russia and in the Middle East. Meanwhile, China is “watching the whole time,” he said.
“We are scared, and we do not like what we’re seeing from the Democrats these last three and a half years. They offer no solutions. They offer no vision. And we’re offering from the Republican Party and the candidates that we’re putting forward those solutions,” he said.
Since the Israel-Hamas war began in October 2023, over 39,000 Palestinians and over 1,200 Israelis have been reported killed. The United States has been the leading provider of funding and military support for Israel, with the Biden-Harris administration approving more than $20 billion in arms sales to Israel last week. A cease-fire between Israel and Hamas has remained elusive.
The war has also caused tension to escalate across the Middle East, with concerns that Iran may retaliate against Israel in ways that threaten direct conflict with the United States.
U.S. involvement in the war in the Gaza Strip has led to protests, often by progressive, young voters, who criticize the handling of the war by Biden and Harris, who officially became the Democratic presidential nominee in early August. This has included outside the Democratic National Convention, which began Monday, and in Raleigh on Friday outside an event where Harris unveiled a broad economic policy agenda.
Harris has expressed concerns about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Her adviser has said Harris does not support an arms embargo on Israel.
So far, the Israel-Hamas war has not been as central of a topic in Trump’s campaign.
But Trump has largely blamed foreign conflicts on Democrats and said last week in Asheville that he could prevent another world war because leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin “respect” him.
“What did Putin take under Trump? Nothing,” he said, the Charlotte Observer reported.
It’s been over two years since Russia invaded Ukraine, igniting a war for control of territory that has led to hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths, along with displacement. As of early May, Congress has approved about $175 billion for Ukraine since 2022.
During the presidential debate between Biden and Trump in late June, Trump claimed that it was the “embarrassing” U.S. departure from Afghanistan that pushed Putin to initiate the conflict.
He said that he “was getting out of Afghanistan, but we were getting out with dignity, with strength, with power. He got out, it was the most embarrassing day in the history of our country’s life.”
Trump put the United States on a course to leave Afghanistan, signing an agreement with the Taliban to withdraw by May 1, 2021, if commitments were met.
Citing the need for more time to leave in an orderly way, the Biden administration delayed that timeline, opting to withdraw instead by September. Ultimately, the U.S. withdrew instead by late August after the Taliban took the Afghan capital, Kabul. During the withdrawal, 13 American service members and over 100 Afghan civilians died in a bomb attack. U.S. weapons were also left in the departure.
This story was originally published August 21, 2024 at 11:15 AM with the headline "Donald Trump and JD Vance rally supporters in NC. Here’s what they said.."
