Sharp-eyed people in the crowd spotted it first — the landing lights of Air Force One approaching Pitt-Greenville Airport in North Carolina on Thursday. ’80’s pop hit “Gloria” pounded as the aircraft roared by on the runway. Then, with “Eye of the Tiger” building energy, President Donald Trump walked out of the plane and waved to the thrilled crowd.
In his speech, Trump focused on his own accomplishments and attacked Biden, stopping occasionally to criticize Big Tech, the fake news media, and Democrats. Organizers said 15,000 people were present at the rally, including some outside the venue in overflow areas.
“Joe Biden has been blatantly lying about his involvement in his son’s corrupt business deals,” Trump said. “Everybody in Washington knows.”
Trump added, “Just an hour ago a new deal shows up that Hunter [Biden] made a business deal for $10 million a year,” Trump said. “If [Joe] Biden is elected, the United States will be owned by China.”
Trump highlighted his own performance on the economy: “We want to rebuild the economy and that’s happening quickly. We had the greatest economy we’ve ever had, think of it. Now we closed it down, and we saved two million lives. ”
Trump also mentioned his Supreme Court nominees. “Presidents go an entire presidency, one term, two terms, without ever having a nominee but I had three in the first term. Their heads are exploding, these people can’t believe it,” he said.
Trump added, “How good is Amy?”
Trump told the crowd that “this is the most important election in the history of our country.”
“[Biden]’s given control of his party — the Democrats used to be like normal people, now they’re socialists, Marxists, communists, […] and some people would say far left lunatics. Look at the Green New Deal,” the president said.
The crowd responded with applause, but Trump said, “Don’t clap too hard, go out and vote.”
He added, “God help us if we don’t win, we won’t have our country anymore and it will never be able to come back.”
Attendees said they were there to support Trump.
“This is historical,” John Allen said. Allen was present with his family including his son Grayson. “That’s why we brought our little one here. This is probably once in a lifetime for him. We homeschool him, this is his history lesson today. I want him to see it, I want him to hear it, and to understand it.”
“Our president needs our support. He’s done so much for this country and for all of us, and he needs for us to do something,” attendee Sharon Higgins said. “If this is part of only what we’re able to do, then by God we are here.”
This was the second rally Debbie Roesel attended. “I think the enthusiasm was still the same, if not more,” Roesel said. “It’s peaceful, it’s fun, it’s energetic, everybody cares about America, and everybody around here seems to care about each other.”
Attendee Mark Zephir said, “The energy level that this president has is unsurpassed. I mean where was he last night, Iowa? And he’s in Greenville today, he’s going to Miami now? I mean it’s just unreal. And he was up on that stage for what, an hour and fifteen minutes.”
Mark’s wife Linda Zephir added, “Nonstop, and he had just as much energy as he did when he exits. He speaks for the people for sure.”
Trump concluded his speech: “We are one movement, one people, one family, and one glorious nation under God, and together with the incredible people of North Carolina, we have have made America wealthy again. We have made America strong again. We have made America proud again, we’re proud. We will make America safe again, and we will make America great again.”
“YMCA” pounded, the audience cheered and danced as Trump danced on stage. Then, Trump waved goodbye and as the crowd strained to watch, Air Force One take off.
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Eric Burk is a reporter at The Virginia Star and the Star News Digital Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photos by Eric Burk.
