After first visit to western North Carolina after Helene, Trump falsely claims Harris is ‘nowhere to be found’ • Alabama Reflector

Trump’s rally brought thousands of supporters to Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum, a venue at East Carolina University. Harris gave a speech to a packed crowd at the same arena last week in which he called Trump “weak and unstable” and accused him of dodging interviews. The former president spoke for just over an hour just after 3 p.m. on Monday – avoiding the long periods of silence that have raised questions about his health during other recent speeches.

False immigration claims

A persistent theme throughout the evening was immigration. Trump repeated false claims that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had taken over apartment buildings in Aurora, Colorado – and claimed that they did the same in New York’s Times Square, citing burglary reports from the New York Post.

He repeated the false claim that FEMA spent disaster relief funds on undocumented immigrants, a claim the agency itself has refuted. “When I’m president, North Carolina will get the support you need and deserve, and there’s no question about that.”

Among the migrant groups Trump targeted in his speech were Congolese immigrants, whom he described as “so much more evil” than Americans, in a xenophobic aside. “They cut you up and don’t even think about it the next day,” he said.

Trump repeatedly falsely claimed that Harris had never called or met anyone from the U.S. Border Patrol while touting the support of the law enforcement union. He also lied that she had never visited the U.S.-Mexico border — in fact, she visited the U.S. border in Arizona last month and spoke with local Border Patrol leaders there, according to the Associated Press.

He criticized Harris for comments she made as a presidential candidate during the 2020 Democratic primary when she said she would perform gender-affirming surgeries on undocumented immigrants in detention centers – a line of attack that his campaign focused on in the final weeks of the election has. The New York Times reported last week that Trump’s administration has also performed gender-affirming surgeries on inmates.

Trump denied playing a role in the failure of a border security bill authored by Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Arizona; James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, and Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, despite simultaneous social media posts denouncing the bill.

“Ted, have I ever told you not to sign this bill? No, right?” he asked Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), who delivered remarks earlier in the afternoon. “Maybe I should agree with this story, Ted. No one has had such power in a long time.”

Budd made many similar comments about Harris’ immigration record, calling her a “failed border czar” and blaming her for a surge in border crossings under President Joe Biden – repeating a Republican attack line focused on Harris’ role in an attempt in the early days of based the government to address the causes of migration in Latin America.

Economic promise

Most of the rest of Trump’s speech revolved around economic issues – blaming Harris and the Biden administration for inflation while promising to restore the economy to the status it was under his presidency.

“I want to start by asking a question: Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” Trump said at the start of his speech, repeating Ronald Reagan’s appeal to voters in 1980 – but with an ironic twist given that the country is in October 2020 was still at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He reiterated his promise to impose a 10 percent tariff on all U.S. imports – calling anyone who opposed the measure “stupid” or “corrupt” – and said he would also make interest on auto loans fully tax deductible, one Innovation which he compared to the invention of the paper clip. “People look at it and say, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?'”

Trump lamented the loss of manufacturing jobs in North Carolina, specifically mentioning the state’s furniture industry, which declined sharply in the 200s.

“I always came here to buy furniture for hotels and things I built,” Trump said. “Year after year it was destroyed, it was taken over by China and others, and all we had to do was put a few tariffs on it.”

He promised to bring manufacturing jobs back to North Carolina — a nod to his promises in the 2016 election — and end inflation.

“I am here today with a message of hope for all Americans,” Trump said. “With your vote in this election, I will end inflation, I will stop the invasion, and I will bring back the American dream.”

Among those who spoke before Trump was retired Army Col. Laurie Buckhout, the Republican who is challenging Rep. Don Davis in North Carolina’s closest congressional race, according to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report – the state’s first congressional district, which includes Greenville. Trump reminded rally participants in his remarks that he supported them.

“I want to stand side by side with President Trump as he fights to make America great again,” Buckhout shouted to the crowd to cheers. “The working families and family farmers of Eastern North Carolina cannot afford four more years of record-setting inflation from Kamala Harris.”

Early voting

Monday’s event came just days after early voting began on Thursday, which officials said began at a record pace. As of Sunday, more than a million ballots had been cast nationwide, the vast majority of them at in-person polling stations.

Trump praised voters in Western North Carolina for turning out in the election and, unlike the 2020 presidential campaign, urged his supporters to submit their ballots before Election Day, reminding them that they have until November 2nd have to vote early Vote.

“These are people who lost their homes, in some cases, unfortunately, family members, and yet they set a record in early voting,” Trump said. “And this is also Trump territory, so that should be a good thing.”

Republican nominee for attorney general, Rep. Dan Bishop, said earlier this afternoon that he was pleased that the number of Republican early voters was roughly keeping pace with the total number of Democrats. Alluding to allegations of voter fraud, he called on rally participants to build a lead that is “too big to be manipulated.”

Trump made similar references in his speech, but did not repeat the false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

“Have you ever heard the expression that the vote counter is far more important than the candidate?” he asked the rally participants. “We can’t allow that. We have to take it back.”

The morning before the rally, Trump reiterated on Truth Social his “full and unqualified support” of several North Carolina Republican congressional candidates, including Reps. Chuck Edwards, David Rouzer and Greg Murphy. All three races are considered safe Republican seats, according to the Cook Political Report.

Trump will visit Greensboro on Tuesday to complete his tour of the state and deliver a speech at the city’s Greensboro Coliseum at 3 p.m

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