ASHEBORO, N.C. (AP) — In his first public rally since the assassination attempt last month, Donald Trump spoke behind bulletproof glass at an event in North Carolina on Wednesday that focused on national security. On policy issues, he called his predecessor Barack Obama “evil” for his comments the night before at the Democratic National Convention.
Trump blamed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan as well as the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and returned to that statement repeatedly in his speeches at the Democratic convention in Chicago, where one speaker after another described Trump as a threat to the country if he returned to the White House.
The former president and current Republican candidate asked the crowd gathered at the North Carolina Aviation Museum & Hall of Fame if they had seen the speeches given by former President Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama on Tuesday.
“He was referring to your president. And Michelle, too. You know, they always say, ‘Sir, please stick to the policy. Don’t get personal.’ And yet these people keep getting personal all evening long,” he said, asking, “Do I still have to stick to the policy?”
Trump, who is running against Harris in November’s election following Biden’s retirement, spoke from behind a podium surrounded by panels of bulletproof glass that formed a protective wall around the stage – part of increased security measures to ensure his safety following the July 13 attack by a Pennsylvania gunman.
Storage containers were stacked around the perimeter walls to create additional walls and block views. Snipers were stationed on the venue’s rooftops, aged airplanes were parked behind the podium, and a immense American flag hung from cranes.
The event, which is expected to focus on national security issues, was part of Trump’s week-long counter-program to the Democratic National Convention currently underway in Chicago. His allies have urged him to focus on policy rather than attacking Harris personally as he grapples with Biden’s exit from the race.
The second evening of the Democratic Party Convention on Tuesday was a highly stimulating affair, in which both Obamas gave speeches, in which they attacked Trump particularly sharply.
“His limited and narrow view of the world led him to feel threatened by the existence of two hard-working, highly educated and successful people who happen to be black,” Michelle Obama said.
Barack Obama mocked Trump’s obsession with crowd sizes, calling Trump “a 78-year-old billionaire who hasn’t stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago.”
“There has been a constant stream of complaints and lawsuits, which has gotten even worse since he is afraid of losing to Kamala,” the former president said.
After mentioning the Obamas early in his speech, Trump returned to the former president’s remarks.
“He was very mean last night,” Trump said. “I try to be nice to people, you know. But it’s a little harsh when they get personal.”
He then asked the crowd whether he should listen to his advisers, who he said had told him: “Please, sir, don’t get personal. Talk about politics.”
“Should I get personal or should I not get personal?” he asked. The crowd overwhelmingly chose the former.
Trump also mocked the convention and the recurrent references to it, calling it a “farce.”
In his remarks, Trump derided Harris as “the most radical leftist to ever run for high political office in our country” and said the woman he now calls “Comrade Kamala” would destroy the country if elected to the White House.
While Trump acknowledges that the race is more stimulating than it was before Biden’s withdrawal, his advisers are convinced that Harris is still relatively unknown and that efforts to highlight her past statements and positions in previous elections will deter swing voters after her honeymoon phase is over.
He repeatedly referred to the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and announced that if he won the election, he would demand the resignation of all high-ranking military officials involved.
He promised to “ban critical race theory and transgender madness from our U.S. armed forces.” During his tenure, he implemented a Pentagon policy that largely barred transgender people from military service. However, Biden reversed the policy.
“Our warriors should be focused on defeating America’s enemies, not on figuring out their gender,” he said. “If you want a gender reassignment surgery or a social justice seminar, you can do that somewhere else, but not in the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, Space Force or the United States Marines.”
He also promised major investments in the armed forces and announced the largest peacetime recruitment campaign in the country’s history.
“We’re going to make it so hot that I’ll want to quit and join the military,” said Trump, who received a series of deferments, including one with a doctor’s note saying he was suffering from bone spurs in his feet.
On Wednesday, Trump was joined by his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, who portrayed Harris as a candidate chosen by those in power, not voters, and sharply criticized her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, before Trump took the stage.
This included ongoing accusations that Walz misrepresented his service history as a member of the Army National Guard and criticism that he left the service before his unit deployed to Iraq.
“What is Tim Walz not lying about on Stolen Valor?” Vance, who served as a Marine for four years, asked the crowd.
Trump has spent this week visiting politically contested states, his busiest campaign week since the Republican primaries.
Given North Carolina’s importance to this year’s election, this was Trump’s second visit to the state in the last week. Last Wednesday, he delivered a speech on the economy in Asheville, North Carolina.
Trump won North Carolina by a comfortable margin in 2016. The state gave the former president his narrowest nationwide victory four years ago and is also considered a decisive battleground in 2024.
Before Trump landed in Asheboro, his plane flew over the venue. The crowd erupted in cheers.
Edna Ryan, a 68-year-old retired flight attendant and private pilot, expressed optimism about the Republicans’ chances, but added: “We have to be strong, otherwise we will regret it very much.”
Lisa Watts, a retired business owner from Hickory, North Carolina, who attended her fifth Trump rally, said she was “very positive” about the campaign against Harris.
“I don’t think her record shows she’s ready to govern this country,” Watts said.
Watts said she did not believe Trump’s chances of winning today would be significantly different from those at the time when Biden was the Democratic nominee.
“I think the Democrats will try everything to keep her on that pedestal,” she said, predicting that the hype surrounding Harris will die down.
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Colvin reported from New York.
