URBANDALE, Iowa — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump carried the “mantle of anger” onto the campaign trail here Friday, rattling off a list of grievances about American inept political leaders to a crowd of supporters who cheers him on.
“I am angry. I’m angry at stupidity. I’m angry at incompetence,” Mr. Trump said when taking questions from the crowd at a rally at Living History Farms museum, kicking off what he promised would be a constant presence in Iowa in the run-up to the caucuses Feb. 1.
“I’m angry when the Chinese are taking $500 billion a year and sucking it out of our jobs and our money and we don’t do anything about it,” he said. “I’m not angry at China. I’m angry at our politicians.”
The rally was Mr. Trump’s first public event following a GOP candidate’s debate Thursday where Mr. Trump said he “gladly accepted the mantle of anger” from South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
In her response to President Obama’s State of the Union address, Mrs. Haley made an apparent reference to Mr. Trump, urging Americans to ignore “the angriest voices” on immigration issues.
Mr. Trump said in the debate that he would be “very, very angry” until illegal immigration and other problems were fixed.
At the rally, he eagerly tapped into the angry undercurrent in the electorate.
“I’m angry when people pour across the border and they’re told, ’Go ahead come in.’ I’m angry when someone has a baby and we’re supposed to take care of the baby for 85 years because the baby happened to be an anchor baby,” he said.
“I’m angry about a lot of things but I won’t be angry for long because once we straighten them out, I’ll be a very happy person,” Mr. Trump said to cheers and applause.
Mr. Trump and his campaign staff have begun making direct appeals to supporters to turn out for the caucuses.
“We have to caucus. Otherwise it all doesn’t mean anything,” he told the crowd.
“I really want to win. I’m going to be here so much you’re gong to be sick of me. You’re going to say, ’I can’t stand him. I don’t want to see him anymore,” said Mr. Trump.
The campaign has been dogged by doubts about its ability to turn the huge crowds at Mr. Trump’s rallies into caucus-goers.
Mr. Trump predicted better-than-expected turnout.
“I have a feeling we’re going to do better than the polls say,” he said. “There’s a movement going on that’s amazing. It’s been called the silent majority. It’s not the silent majority. It’s the noisy majority. We’re tired of stupidity.”
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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