Trump Speaks in North Carolina, and He's Back on His Game

Donald Trump spoke Wednesday in Asheboro, North Carolina, at the first such signature outdoor rally since last month's assassination attempt. These events are designed to showcase Trump's strengths — mostly the ability to gather huge, enthusiastic crowds. In Asheboro, he was on his game. Some highlights:

The event was opened by Trump's running mate, JD Vance, who launched into Democratic candidate Kamala Harris for taking "credit" for the disastrous withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.

.@JDVance: Kamala BRAGGED about playing a key role in the disastrous withdrawal of Afghanistan... Is it any wonder that Putin then invaded Ukraine on her watch? Or that Iran attacked Israel on her watch?... When Kamala Harris walks in the room, America's enemies sense WEAKNESS. pic.twitter.com/DuqfcOITai
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 21, 2024

Vance also blasted Kamala Harris's choice of running mate, implying that Democrat Tim Walz is influenced by China.

.@JDVance: "Kamala Harris wanted to outsource our factories and jobs to China. But I didn't expect her to outsource the selection of her running mate to China too." pic.twitter.com/kzw7MzV5o1
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 21, 2024

But, as usual, it was Donald Trump who dominated the event. These rallies are meat and drink to Trump, and he was certainly on his game for this one.

The former president began by bringing a group of county sheriffs onto the stage, some of whom he appeared to know personally, and addressed them accordingly. He joked about getting them off the stage, presumably talking about the number of people crowding behind the new plexiglass shields.

SHERIFFS FOR TRUMP! pic.twitter.com/5BExqi6tnr
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 21, 2024

Donald Trump Offers Rare Praise - for Barack Obama?

As he has been doing lately, Trump quickly pivoted to talk about issues and proposals. He slammed what he called the "Harris/Biden administration" for fudging Bureau of Labor statistics, accusing them of "padding the numbers."

President Trump addresses the Bureau of Labor Statistics admitting that 818K jobs that Kamala and Biden claim to have "created" do not exist:

"The Harris-Biden administration has been caught fraudulently manipulating job statistics to hide the true extent of the economic ruin… pic.twitter.com/IabXACEPv2
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 21, 2024

Moving on to the ongoing Democratic National Convention, he commented that he was mentioned 271 times in the convention, noting that the DNC has him down as a category.

PRESIDENT TRUMP ON THE DNC: They mentioned my name 271 times. They mentioned the economy like 12 times. They don't talk about the border. Our great border czar doesn't talk about the border. We've driven them CRAZY. They have Trump derangement syndrome. pic.twitter.com/8YCuwFPg5b
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 21, 2024

Much of this speech, though, focused on military and foreign affairs issues. Trump spoke, as he has before, about rebuilding the military, which has suffered under the Biden administration. He spoke of China and mentioned a report claiming that the U.S. military would lose a war to China if fought today.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: America is blessed with the greatest military in the world—but our men and women in uniform have been betrayed by radical left politicians and some generals, at the very top, who are woke. pic.twitter.com/acztBzqf9R
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 21, 2024

PRESIDENT TRUMP: The VOTERS will hold Kamala and Joe accountable this November—and when I take office, I will ask for the resignations of every single senior official who touched the Afghanistan disaster. I want them on my desk at noon on Inauguration Day. pic.twitter.com/vyjI1myx6e
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 21, 2024

Nearing his conclusion, Trump stated, "We are going to fight like hell to win the election, and they (Democrats) are going to cheat like hell," and brought himself forward as "the guy" to restore America, to bring peace through strength, and pointed out that the four-year "break" has shown just how bad things can get under a Democratic administration. His comments about illegal immigration and the state of homeless veterans are sure to strike a chord.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Our veterans are living in squalor, while illegal immigrants are living in luxury hotels. pic.twitter.com/2k0iCQTvbO
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 21, 2024

In summary, it was a classic Donald Trump rally.

Granted, it's not clear that Trump's rallies bring in undecided voters. The crowds, candidly, are already Trump voters. But he's in his element here, and the rallies, by necessity, generate a lot of coverage; clips like the ones shown above are spread far and wide, and if the rallies don't bring in many new voters, they do raise excitement among the base, and that's worth doing. Also, Trump, throughout, repeatedly referred to Democrat Kamala Harris as "Comrade Kamala," an obvious slap at Harris's well-known far-left positions — which also resonates well with the Trump base. Trump, with certainty, knows this.

WILD: Trump Pauses NC Rally Speech, Leaves Stage to Check on Supporter Who Had Medical Emergency

The former president was clearly in his element; he was animated and quick to react to events in the audience — at one point, he left the stage to check on a supporter who fell ill, which had to have driven his Secret Service detail nuts. That was a wonderfully spontaneous moment that just doesn't happen every day.

Clips from the Asheboro speech may be viewed at the Trump War Room X account. You can also view the speech in its entirety on C-Span.