ASHEVILLE, NC – Donald Trump will have another opportunity to refocus his efforts to make a comeback as president on Wednesday, this time holding a rally and speech in North Carolina that his campaign is touting as a major address on economic policy.
Taking place in a Democratic city surrounded by staunchly Republican mountain counties, the event has both national and local implications for the former president.
Republicans expect Trump to move away from incoherent arguments and attacks on the vice president. Kamala Harris since the Democrats named her as their presidential candidate. Twice in the past week, Trump has wasted such opportunities, first in a one-hour press conference on his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, then in a 2 1/2 hour conversation on the social media platform X with CEO Elon Musk.
FULL SPEECH: Trump holds press conference in Florida
Former President Donald Trump announced three separate debate dates for November.
The latest attempt is in the state that gave Trump his narrowest statewide victory four years ago and is likely to be a battleground again in 2024. Trump won North Carolina He holds a lead of less than 1.4 percentage points – or about 74,500 votes – over Democrat Joe Biden in 2020, and he cannot afford to allow the state’s 16 electoral votes to go to the Democrats for the first time since Barack Obama won here in 2008.
“We look forward to welcoming President Trump to Western North Carolina and talking about how he will get our economy moving again,” said North Carolina Republican Chairman Jason Simmons. “This visit shows that Republicans understand that North Carolina is bigger than Charlotte and Raleigh – beyond I-77 and I-95 – and that these communities here are important.”
The question for the election campaign is whether Trump is able to maintain a tight framework for the economy, especially to put the consequences of inflation on Harris, rather than resorting to his usual inhibitions and complaints. The speech comes on the same day that the Labor Department reported that Inflation reached its lowest level compared to the previous year for more than three years in July, a potential boon for Harris.
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Harris plans to be in North Carolina on Friday to announce further details of her pledge to make “building the middle class … a critical goal of my presidency.”
When is Trump’s rally?
The Republican presidential candidate’s rally on Wednesday is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Watch it in the player above or on FOX Local.
