Trump uses Rocky Mount rally to address Helene, immigration. He’ll soon be back in NC.
Former President Donald Trump made another push for North Carolina votes at a campaign stop in Rocky Mount on Wednesday, and his campaign announced he would make another stop in the swing state before the Nov. 5 election.
In his first visit to Rocky Mount during the 2024 election cycle, Trump spoke extensively on illegal immigration, criticized his political opponents, and outlined several key campaign promises, including imposing tariffs on foreign companies, tackling inflation, and pledging support for law enforcement.
Three days later, Trump plans to return to North Carolina for two rallies: first at the Gastonia Municipal Airport at noon followed by a rally at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro at 7:30 p.m.
At his Wednesday rally at the Rocky Mount Event Center — at about the same time Vice President Kamala Harris addressed supporters in Raleigh — Trump’s crowd rose to their feet to cheer him as he took the stage, loudly chanting, “USA!”
“I’m thrilled to be back in this incredible state with thousands of proud, hardworking American patriots,” he said, “but I’d like to ask you one very simple, easy-to-answer question, are you better off now than you were four years ago?”
Trump said he would cut inflation, “stop the massive invasion of criminals into our country” and “bring back a thing called the American dream.”
Without offering evidence to back up broad accusations, the former president said this election was a choice between “gross incompetence, the most corrupt, horrible people” — then adding, “oops, we should get along with everybody” — or “whether we’ll begin the four greatest years in the history of our country.”
He went on to criticize Harris specifically, saying she has a “low IQ.” He also said that the vice president had failed to keep promises but is now saying she would fix the border. He then shifted to look at what he called “his favorite chart” showing illegal immigration statistics.
“Why didn’t she do all these things? … She’s trying to disassociate herself from sleepy Joe Biden,” he said.
Whenever Trump mentioned his opponents, the crowd booed loudly.
Trump said Harris spoke constantly about him and has “Trump derangement syndrome,” which “has inflicted havoc on some lives. But many Democrats suffer that disease and it’s only because of one reason, we’re winning.”
Addressing Biden’s comments
Trump criticized Biden for his comments on Trump supporters, saying “my supporters are far higher quality than crooked Joe or lying Kamala.”
Responding to comments made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who referred to Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, as an “island of garbage” during the Trump rally in New York, Biden was quoted as saying: “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable.”
Biden later posted a clarification on X, stating that he was referring to “the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed” by a single Trump supporter, Hinchcliffe, as garbage. The White House contended Biden had said “supporter’s,” not “supporters.”
Elections
Trump said that “the best way to have an election is very simple, paper ballots, voter ID, proof of citizenship” and one day of voting.
Biden won the presidential election in 2020 despite Trump’s persistent, unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud in the election. Trump turned attention to 2020 again on Wednesday, saying: “last time, we got more votes than any sitting president in the history of our country, but we lost, they say.”
North Carolina uses paper ballots, requires photo ID and requires voters to be citizens. Voting by noncitizens is illegal federally and is rare.
Most of the crowd cheered after Trump asked who has already voted, and less when he asked who still needed to vote. In the past, Republicans have shied away from early voting, but the party has encouraged it this election cycle.
Immigration
Trump referenced new tariffs he favors on foreign goods, and lauded billionaire Elon Musk. He also said he’d end the war in Ukraine, “stop the chaos in the Middle East,” “take care of our police,” “get critical race theory and transgender insanity out of our schools,” keep the “right to bear arms” and modernize the military.
Trump also spoke extensively on illegal immigration and the need to kickstart deportations.
Speaking on immigrants who commit crimes while in the country without legal authorization, he said: “I’m going to protect the women, I’m going to protect the children and I’m going to protect the men. I’m going to protect everybody from these animals that have been unleashed into our country” from foreign countries, he said. Multiple videos on crime by immigrants were streamed on big screens at the rally.
Research indicates that crime rates and incarceration rates are typically higher among U.S.-born individuals compared to immigrants in the country without legal authorization.
He said he’d call for the death penalty for any migrant that kills an American citizen or a law enforcement official.
Trump on Helene
Trump also spoke about Hurricane Helene — which hit North Carolina in late September — saying that despite the storm taking “houses right off the foundations” and heavily impacting western parts of the state, “you’ve set an all-time record in early voting.” North Carolina reported record turnout for the first day of early voting.
“You’re superior people, not garbage,” he said.
Trump criticized his “opponents,” saying they had done “a horrible job, one of the worst jobs since Katrina,” and repeated a false claim that FEMA had spent funds to bring immigrants into the country illegally. Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the surrounding area in 2005 while George W. Bush was president.
Throughout Trump’s speech, a steady stream of people left, but the majority of the crowd stayed and engaged with him, cheering at remarks they agreed with and jeering at mentions of his opponents.
Trump also repeated his endorsement of Laurie Buckhout for Congress.
Frequent visitors
Harris made her 20th visit to North Carolina of this election cycle. Starting even before she announced her candidacy, she, Biden, and later Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, her pick for vice president, have been frequent guests of North Carolina — making appearances either themselves or through surrogates on a weekly basis.
Trump has had less of a presence, making 13 campaign stops in North Carolina this election cycle, with the majority of those starting after Harris announced her candidacy in July.
Trump’s stops have included rallies, private fundraisers, a town hall and an appearance at the Coca-Cola 600. He crisscrossed the state from Charlotte to Asheville, Asheboro, Mint Hill, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Greenville and Concord.
For live updates from earlier in the rally, see below:
More speakers before Trump takes stage
1:20 p.m. update:
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida took the stage to the sounds of “The Time Is Now” by Eminem.
“In six days, North Carolina is going red, and Donald Trump’s going to be the 47th president of the United States,” he said.
More than 3.1 million people already have cast ballots in North Carolina during early voting.
North Carolina is a battleground state, and Trump and Harris remain in a close race to win it. On Tuesday, WRAL released a poll that showed the two candidates tied 47% to 47%.
Despite losing the election nationally, Trump won North Carolina in 2020 with just 1.3% of the vote over President Joe Biden, the smallest margin of victory of any state Trump won.
Democrats took note of that and despite winning North Carolina only once since 1973, the Harris campaign focused early on the Tar Heel State trying to flip the state blue.
“They have broken our nation. They have failed in leadership. And there is one man who will fix it, and his name is Donald J Trump,” Donalds said, urging supporters to go vote.
He also said the country needed a leader who would get the country out of wars, secure the southern border, improve the economy and “protect children and end this radical transgender ideology.”
After Donalds, U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota took the stage. He spoke largely about Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, saying Walz was supposed to be Harris’s “emotional support animal,” but Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, “ended that.”
Voters wait for Trump
1 p.m. update:
Damien Cabena, 24, and his grandmother Donna Bragg, of Rocky Mount, said they were excited to hear Trump was in their hometown and wanted to see him in person and hear what he has to say.
“I really believe in everything he is promoting and I definitely want him to be our next president,” Bragg said. Cabena said it was a dream come true that Trump visited Rocky Mount.
Cabena couldn’t stop grinning from ear-to-ear as he sat with his grandmother in the front row above the VIP section.
Around them, people are wearing Make America Great Again hats and various Trump-related outfits. Some had American flags wrapped around their necks.
Speakers take the stage at Trump rally
11:55 a.m. update:
Congressional candidate Laurie Buckhout, running in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District in northeastern North Carolina, took the stage first. She opened her speech by saying she was “on home turf.”
Buckhout referenced the assassination attempt on Trump during a Pennsylvania rally when he “raised his fist and said, ‘fight, fight, fight.’”
This area could play a major role in the election, not just for Trump but for Republicans trying to maintain a majority in the U.S. House. Rocky Mount is part of North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, which is currently represented by Rep. Don Davis, a moderate Democrat from Snow Hill. It’s the only swing district in the state, meaning a Republican or a Democrat could win it.
Buckhout is hoping to give a new seat to Republicans to maintain their majority, while Davis battles to hold onto it. Last week, the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics moved the district from “toss-up” to “leans Democratic,” giving Trump another reason to focus in on Eastern North Carolina this week.
Buckhout said Davis “might want to high five Kamala about the Biden-Harris-Davis record,” showing “how out of touch he is.”
After Buckhout, U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, who represents the state’s 9th Congressional District, said, “We’re going to flip four seats in the United States Congress, right here in North Carolina.”
He said Brad Knott, who is running in the 13th District, is coming to Congress, as well as Buckhout, who is “an Army veteran, a businesswoman, and frankly, folks, she’s a badass,” Hudson said.
Hudson also said the country needed a Republican majority in Congress “because the Republican majority will make Donald Trump’s second term even more successful than his first term.”
“As bad as Joe Biden is, Kamala Harris is going to be even worse,” Hudson said before asking the public if they’d heard Biden’s “garbage” comments.
Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg spoke after Hudson, saying said he spent most of his adult life “just down the road in a place I call, still call, and will always call Fort Bragg.” The military base was renamed Fort Liberty in 2023 as part of a broader initiative by the U.S. Department of Defense to rename military bases previously named after Confederate figures.
“We have a leader for you, we have a champion for you, for all of us in Donald J. Trump,” said Kellogg.
Voters lined up for rally
10:30 a.m. update:
Karen Little, a Rocky Mount resident, lined up at 11:11 p.m. on Tuesday, the night before Trump’s rally in her hometown.
It’s her first rally.
“They call me the virgin,” Little said. “I’m the virgin rallier. They showed me the ropes.”
She pointed to Dorothea Ohlandt, 59, of Franklinton, and Donald Duke, 38, of Henderson, who have each attended six rallies.
Ohlandt just returned from Trump’s speech at Madison Square Garden, where, like on Tuesday night, she said she was first in line. She arrived at the Rocky Mount rally at 10:11 p.m. to secure her place.
Duke lined up behind Ohlandt and Little at 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
Little said she was excited to have Trump in her hometown.
“I hope it changes a lot of people on this side of town,” she said.
She said that currently, Rocky Mount voters are split about 50-50 between supporting Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, but she hopes the rally shifts it to 95% in favor of Trump.
“I’m looking around and I’m seeing people that I know are Democrats and they are here wearing Trump hats,” Little said.
She said she supports Trump for his policies, his love for the country and “because he stood up after literally taking a bullet for us.”
Ohlandt said she was drawn to Trump because of his desire to keep “God first.”
Just after 9:30 a.m., the group was let into the event center for the rally.
This story was originally published October 30, 2024 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Trump uses Rocky Mount rally to address Helene, immigration. He’ll soon be back in NC.."