- "We must never let Kamala Harris get anywhere near the White House and we must defeat her country destroying, liberal agenda," Trump told the crowd in Asheville. "She destroyed San Francisco. She’s not gonna destroy our country. So get your friends, get your family, register volunteer, and get the hell out and vote on November 5. We will save our economy and we will rescue our middle class."
On Wednesday, former President Donald Trump made a campaign stop in Asheville to address an enthusiastic crowd at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. In the speech, Trump focused on key policy issues of his campaign, specifically the impact of inflation on families and businesses and how the rising cost of energy is driving up the price of groceries and housing.
“Together we will deliver so everyone can afford groceries,” he told the crowd.
Trump promised to make reducing energy prices a first priority if elected.
“I’m announcing that under my leadership the United States will commit to the ambitious goal of slashing energy, electricity, prices by half, at least half, within 12 months and a maximum 18 months,” Trump said. “No matter what business you’re in, you have to heat your business, cool your business. You need cars, trucks to get there and take the product. It’s so dominate. My administration will issue approvals for new energy infrastructure, unlock new lands for drilling and achieve energy independence and energy dominance. We were energy-independent four years ago. Think of it: Today, we’re getting energy from Venezuela in the form of tar.”
The crowd interrupted the speech, chanting “drill, baby, drill.”
Trump also promised to end seniors paying taxes on Social Security and to make his first term’s tax cuts permanent. Several provisions passed in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 are due to expire in 2025. The bill lowered tax brackets, imposed a higher standard deduction and increased the child tax credit. The Biden administration has not signed legislation to extend them or make them permanent.
Behind the former president on the stage was a sign that read “No tax on tips,” referring to a policy position pushed by the Harris presidential campaign in recent days.
“She ruthlessly copied ‘no tax on tips,’ and we wanted to do it three years ago. They didn’t,” he said. “It was actually the opposite. They hired 88,000 IRS agents to go after these people.”
Trump also promised to defend the Second Amendment and criticized public schools teaching transgender issues and critical race theory in the classroom. Pointing to Harris’ border role in the Biden administration, Trump warned of financial disaster for the American entitlement programs.
“She’s flooding our country with millions and millions of low-wage migrants and giving them welfare, free healthcare, food stamps, public benefits,” he said. “American military vets are sleeping on a street in freezing or very hot weather and illegal immigrants that came in, who don’t speak a word of English, are living in some of the most luxurious hotels in the world. They want to make them all citizens, dumping them into Medicare and Social Security until those programs buckle and collapse. That’s what’s going to happen under them. Medicare and other programs will collapse. No country can sustain what’s happening right now, the millions of illegal aliens pouring into our country.”
The speech was heavy on policy promises. According to a recent Carolina Journal survey, policy is what many likely voters in North Carolina are seeking from the candidates. More than 50% of voters said inflation and prices were their top concern, with 32% saying jobs and the economy were the most important issue headed into the November election. Immigration was the priority for 32.9% of respondents, abortion polled as most important to 23.2% of respondents.
The Carolina Journal poll shows that North Carolina continues to be a tight race for the White House and even closer with Harris, rather than Biden, at the top of Democrats’ ticket. In the poll, Trump leads Harris in North Carolina, 47.2% to Harris’ 44.1%, and We the People candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claims 3.6% of respondents support. The poll was conducted Aug. 4-5 of 31% Republicans, 34% Democrats, and 31% independents/other with a 3.99% margin of error.
Asheville tends to be a liberal voter pocket in western North Carolina and drew protesters to Trump’s speech as well. Still, the line was long to get into the venue, with vendors selling various Trump-themed merchandise outside.
On Tuesday, Harris spoke in Atlanta, Georgia, focusing on issues central to her campaign, including voting rights and calls to put access to abortion in federal law. Harris is scheduled to visit Raleigh on Friday. Wake County is a reliable Democrat stronghold. Carolina Journal’s poll shows Harris leading Trump 47% to 45%, with We the People Party candidate Robert F. Kennedy claiming 3% of the vote in the Raleigh-Durham area.