ASHEBORO, NC – In a rally billed as an opportunity to discuss national security, former United States President Donald Trump and Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, the Republican Party nominee for Vice President, took to the stage at the North Carolina Aviation Museum to a small but vocal crowd of supporters. But before national security became the topic of discussion, both Vance and Trump took a moment to levy criticism at Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden for what they described as catastrophic failures on both the domestic and international stage.
Trump began his opening remarks with a discussion of the Democratic National Convention, currently taking place in Chicago, and accused the assembled speakers of having “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” noting that his name was brought up so often, he had become a separate category. He also continually referred to Harris as “Comrade Kamala” and speculated as to whether the sitting Vice President was a Marxist or a Socialist, while deliberately mispronouncing her first name.
“They have done a terrible job for our country in every single way,” Trump stated, referring to Harris and President Joe Biden. “The only thing they’ve done well is cheat and lie.”
Finally turning to the topic at hand, national security, Trump sounded an alarm bell stating that with Harris as president, the world was literally on the brink of facing World War III.
“The entire world was safer when I sat behind that beautiful Resolute desk in the Oval office,” Trump stated, before listing what he described as his successes as President.
“We defeated ISIS, we killed the world’s top terrorist, we secured our borders, we achieved energy independence, we made peace in the Middle East, and we didn’t start any wars” Trump stated, which drew thunderous applause from the crowd.
But his sternest criticism was regarding the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, which Trump claims he would also have done, only differently, by pulling the civilians out first, and the military last.
“Kamala Harris and crooked Joe Biden delivered the most humiliating event in the history of our country and one of the biggest military disasters in the history of the world as far as I’m concerned.” He went on to describe the disturbing images of soldiers and civilians killed amid the troop pullout.
As a cornerstone of his new administration, Trump vowed to make a historic investment to rebuild the military and rehire any military personnel who were let go under the COVID vaccine mandate.
Before Trump’s appearance, Vance took the stage, also beginning his remarks with a criticism of Harris.
“There is no greater area where Kamala Harris has failed to deliver peace and national security than at the American southern border. It is a disgrace. She has allowed a literal invasion of this country.”
Vance described a visit to the southern border, where he claimed that giant sections of Trump’s border wall just sitting there, rusting and waiting to be installed, while Harris refuses to do her job. Vance also described Trump as the person Americans were looking to for hope.
“Donald J. Trump represents something that so many in this country need right now, ” Vance stated.
“Hope. Hope that we can re-ignite this economy and bring back prosperity to America’s citizens. Hope that we can raise our kids in secure neighborhoods and safe streets. Hope that we bring back the patriotism that binds us and become one nation under God.”
Also addressing the crowd prior to Trump’s appearance was Congressman Richard Hudson, who represents North Carolina’s Ninth District.
“When President Trump was in office, our allies respected us; our enemies feared us,” Hudson stated, as he laid the responsibility of the pullout in Afghanistan on the Biden/Harris administration, adding that Kamala Harris was trying to “lie her way into office.”
“President Trump,” Hudson concluded, “has always had our backs.”