National security the main topic during Trump’s stay in Asheboro

Domestic and national security was the main theme of Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Asheboro on Wednesday afternoon.

The main cornerstones of the speeches by Trump and his Vice President JD Vance were increased security at the southern border, continued support for law enforcement and criticism of the foreign policy of the administration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

“It’s a great day for us from Asheboro and Randolph County and we’re excited,” said Sen. David W. Craven Jr. (R-Randolph) before a litany of speakers took the stage. “We’ve got a beautiful 24-degree day ahead of us and we’re just going to have a great time out here with 7 degrees and hopefully 8 degrees.”

Before Trump’s hour-and-a-half-long speech, former military leaders Keith Kellogg and Edward Reeder Jr., as well as Randolph County Sheriff Gregory Seabolt, expressed their support for Trump.

“The American people understand that Americans are safer when there is peace in the world and America is respected,” said US Congressman Richard Hudson in an interview before his speech. “It is in our interest that there are no wars around the world.”

Hudson said national security is of paramount importance to North Carolina, including its constituents in and around Fort Liberty, formerly known as Fort Bragg.

About 20 North Carolina sheriffs and Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson joined Trump on stage to begin his speech. Trump also thanked North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) and Rep. Neal Jackson (R-Moore) for their support.

Trump and Vance discussed the Biden-Harris administration’s September 2021 decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. Trump called the decision “humiliating” and a “disaster,” with the caveat that he had also had plans to withdraw troops but would have done so with dignity.

Trump said America was respected under his leadership, but under Biden the country had lost that status, and with Harris, whom he repeatedly referred to as “Comrade Kamala” during the event, her status would only worsen.

“Putin would never have invaded Ukraine, Israel would never have been attacked,” Trump said if he had been president for the past four years.

Trump said the addition of transgender soldiers to the army and the “purge” of 8,000 members of the armed forces for refusing to be vaccinated against Covid-19 over the past four years had weakened military strength.

“My stance has kept us out of wars,” Trump said. “Around the world, our adversaries knew America was not to be trifled with when I was your commander in chief,” he later added.

Trump has repeatedly said that America would look more like San Francisco if Harris became president. Harris served as San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general for seven years each.

“The world is on fire and Kamala and Biden have brought us to the brink of World War III…” Trump said. “This November, Americans are going to tell Kamala Harris we’ve had enough, we can’t take it anymore. You’re doing a terrible job… You’re fired, get out of here.”

Other headlines Trump mentioned in his speech included the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ revised report, which indicated that 818,000 fewer jobs were created over the past 12 months than originally reported. Trump attributed this error to the Biden administration.

Trump said his name was mentioned more than 200 times by speakers at the Democratic convention, while the economy and border issues were mentioned only sporadically.

“Our great border czar doesn’t talk about the border, but they mention me more than any other category,” Trump said. “I’m a category now.”

The Trump campaign appearance came on the heels of Kamala Harris’ visit on Friday. Her speech focused largely on economic policy, with an emphasis on cutting costs so that Americans of all backgrounds and abilities can succeed.

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