Former President Donald Trump pumped up his supporters in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Tuesday and promised to bring back manufacturing jobs he said the state had lost over the last four years.
Mr. Trump blamed President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the loss of jobs to China.
“This state was once the beating heart of American manufacturing. You know that? You know what happened. But year after year, globalist after globalist, radical left politician Kamala Harris and her party sold you out,” Mr. Trump said. They “allowed your jobs to be plundered and stolen from you by other countries,” he said.
“After NAFTA and China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, some of the worst things that ever happened to this country” came, Mr. Trump said. “North Carolina lost over 300,000 manufacturing jobs, like taking candy from a baby, including 60% of its furniture manufacturing jobs.”
Mr. Trump also took several jabs at Ms. Harris for deciding to take a break from the campaign trail.
“You know where Kamala is today? They don’t want to tell you. You don’t know where she is. She’s sleeping,” he said. “She took a day off. She’s got no energy at all. Her speeches last for about 15 minutes.”
Mr. Trump also criticized former President Barack Obama, who is campaigning for Ms. Harris.
The Republican presidential nominee said he is glad the Democrats are bringing out Mr. Obama because he failed to help Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton win in 2016 and said his immediate predecessor in the White House looks “older” and “exhausted.”
“You know, the reason they bring him out and other people, they’re bringing out all these other people [because] nobody goes to their rallies,” he said.
“So, you know what they do? They bring in so-called stars … these are not stars to me, but they bring out some people, and what happens is, the star comes in, they get a little bit of a crowd,” Mr. Trump said.
“They don’t get crowds like this, and they have guitars, I don’t, OK. I got nothing up here. And they bring them out, and they get an audience. They perform for a couple of minutes, and then they leave, and then the candidate gets up. There’s nobody in the room,” he claimed.
Mr. Trump’s Greensboro rally is part of his campaign swing through North Carolina after Hurricane Helene destroyed communities in the western part of the state. He visited Greenville and Asheville in that part of the state on Monday.
During a press conference in Asheville, Mr. Trump said private citizens were needed to fill the void for what was lacking in the response of the Biden-Harris administration, specifically the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“I think it is a disgrace what happened with FEMA, what’s happened with their rescue effort,” he said. “Their rescue effort was almost nonexistent.
“I am with you, and the American people are with you all the way. We are going to continue to be with you,” he said then.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign said Mr. Trump has been spreading lies that are distracting from the state’s recovery effort and hurting families in need of aid.
They also pushed out a headline from the Charlotte Observer editorial board: “Shame on Donald Trump for worsening NC’s Helene tragedy with political lies.”
Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, wiping out homes, roads and entire towns, and killing 95 people statewide. More than 100 other people died in other southeastern states from the storm and its related flooding.
The Biden-Harris administration responded by directing $1.8 billion in federal assistance to people and communities affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which slammed across the Florida Peninsula from west to east.
FEMA has deployed over 4,400 personnel to the affected areas from the two storms.
With just two weeks before Election Day, Mr. Trump spent Monday surveying storm damage in Swannanoa before rallying voters in Greenville and meeting religious voters at a campaign stop in Concord.
There, he was joined by his son Eric Trump, the Rev. Franklin Graham, and Ben Carson, who served in his administration as secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
“Christian voters need to turn out in the largest numbers ever,” Mr. Trump said. He called on those voters nationwide to “stand up and save your country.”
Mr. Trump is working to shore up his support in a state he won in 2016 and 2020. Polls show the race between him and Ms. Harris is a dead heat.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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