Former President Donald Trump’s speech in the swing state of North Carolina on Wednesday was supposed to focus on the economy. As he noted from the stage, “everyone says that’s the most important issue.”
But from the beginning, the event in Asheville resembled any other Trump campaign rally.
While Trump also discussed some economic policy proposals, he spent most of his time avoiding immigration at the U.S. southern border, making boastful claims about his first term in the White House, personally attacking his rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, and other familiar issues.
Remarkably, Trump occasionally pronounced his opponent’s first name correctly.
“What happened to her laugh? I haven’t heard her laugh in about a week,” Trump said of Harris. “That’s the laugh of a crazy person, I’m telling you, in case you haven’t noticed. She’s crazy.”
He floated the idea that Harris’ campaign wanted to tell her to stop laughing in public because it would draw criticism from Republicans.
“They told her not to laugh, not to laugh,” he claimed. “Her laughter is career-threatening. She doesn’t laugh anymore. It’s clever, but one day it will come out. That’s the laughter of someone with big problems.”
Trump also objected to Harris’ Time magazine cover, which featured an illustration of her by graphic designer Neil Jamieson.
“Six weeks ago she was a completely disrespectful person, nobody thought she had a chance – and now they put her on the cover of Time magazine with an artist’s sketch,” Trump said.
“They are not using a picture, but an artist’s sketch,” he said, adding that he wanted to “find that artist” because he “likes him very much.”
Among the economic policy proposals outlined by Trump was a plan to “develop large tracts of government property” for new housing projects and expand drilling for fossil fuels.
“Drill, baby, drill!” Trump shouted, to the chorus of his supporters. Without evidence, he claimed he would cut energy prices “by 50 to 70 percent.”
“Vote for Trump, and your incomes will soar, your savings will grow, young people will be able to afford their own homes, and we will bring back the American dream bigger, better and stronger than ever before,” Trump said.
At another point he told the crowd: “Your quality of life will collapse under the conditions of these madmen.”
Trump claimed he gave Harris and President Joe Biden “an economic miracle” and they turned it into an “economic nightmare,” even though Trump left office at a time when the global economy was battling the Covid-19 pandemic at its peak.
Grant Baldwin via Getty Images
In the background of his speech were two of his oft-repeated economic proposals: eliminating taxes on tips and eliminating taxes on Social Security, which he briefly acknowledged. Trump spent more time listing everyday items he said were too expensive, like car insurance and bacon, claiming he no longer “orders” bacon because it’s too expensive.
“To put it simply, people go to the supermarket and get less than half of what is half offered,” Trump said.
Then he rummaged around in his jacket pocket and pulled out a box of Tic Tac mints and then a miniature version of the same box.
“That’s inflation,” Trump said.
His comments came less than a week after a disastrous press conference reportedly prompted allies to voice concerns about Trump’s inability to get his campaign message across. An interview with billionaire Elon Musk on social media platform X on Monday did little to assuage those concerns, with Trump speaking incoherently and his speech appearing to be slurred.
Trump has struggled to craft a coherent message against Harris since she became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee after Biden ended his re-election campaign last month, riding a wave of support and drawing huge crowds that Trump has falsely claimed were fake.
On Wednesday, Trump was conspicuous by his lack of focus on crowd size. He seemed to alternate between spontaneous ramblings and remarks read from a teleprompter, and repeatedly portrayed the Republican Party as the party of “common sense.”
But some of his ramblings took on the ugly and divisive tone that provokes the most violent reactions from his most loyal supporters. Over the course of his 75-minute speech, Trump returned to the subject of immigration several times, claiming in one particularly vile remark that male immigrants are “raping our women.”
“It’s out of control,” Trump said.
