(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) The backdrop was a pipe-fitting warehouse. A sign hanging from the rafters said “Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!”
But the man onstage, as usual, had his own itinerary—and the chief order of business appeared to be addressing concerns about the possibility of another assassination attempt, hours after the Senate released its long-awaited report on the first one.
Former President Donald Trump’s remarks Wednesday in Mint Hill, N.C., on the outskirts of Charlotte, also reportedly followed a national intelligence briefing Tuesday on Iran’s recent attempts to kill him.
During his speech, Trump said that despite recent evidence that Iran was actively seeking to sow chaos and interfere in the U.S. election by hacking the GOP campaign and hiring hitmen to target the Republican nominee, President Joe Biden had audaciously arranged to meet with Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian while the new leader was attending the United Nations General Assembly this week.
He called Biden’s cozy relationship with Iran “a strange set of circumstances” and observed that, if the tables were turned, he would be warning the rogue Islamic regime “that if they do anything to harm this person, we are going to blow your largest cities and the country itself to smithereens.”
Trump also had harsh words for Biden’s foreign policy in Ukraine, a day after its leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, made overtly partisan comments attacking him and his running mate, JD Vance, while autographing bombs in Pennsylvania with Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Trump slammed Zelenskyy—the ostensible reason for Democrats’ first attempt to impeach him in 2019—for “making little nasty aspersions” that could potentially drive a major foreign-policy wedge between the embattled Eastern European nation and its leading benefactor, if Trump were to be reelected in November.
“What’s happening in Ukraine is a very serious matter,” Trump said.
“… The country is absolutely obliterated,” he continued. “Millions and millions of people, including all of those great soldiers, they’re dead.”
Trump went on to say that the country’s war with Russia was an entirely preventable situation, but rather than engage in serious diplomacy, the Biden–Harris administration opted for tough talk and hollow ultimatums.
“A deal could have been made,” Trump said.
“There wouldn’t have been one person that died, and there woudn’t have been one golden tower laying shattered on its side,” he continued. “A deal could have been made if we had a competent president instead of a president that egged it all on.”
Trump’s ire for the Biden–Harris administration’s foreign-policy failures and corruption seemed simmering below the surface even in the parts of his speech that dealt with his economic policies, including a plan that would help jumpstart American prosperity to the detriment of those who have been leeching off it.
While Trump has brought up his plan for tariffs on foreign imports, he unveiled the “centerpiece” of his new economic plan, which would be additional tax incentives for American manufacturing businesses, dropping the corporate tax rate an additional 7% after already cutting it by 18% in his first term.
“This is why people and countries want to kill me,” Trump mused.
“…They only kill consequential presidents—remember that,” he continued. “If you’re one of the countries that’s affected, you’re not happy.”
During the speech, Trump made mention of his plans to return to Butler, Pa., the site of the July 13 assassination attempt that left his ear bloodied.
Shortly after the speech, his campaign rolled out additional details about the planned Oct. 5 visit in an official press release.
“President Trump’s return to Butler will stand as a tribute to the American spirit,” it said.
“In America, we do not let monsters like that evil assassin have the last word. Every time our nation is struck by attack or hardship, we rally, we persevere, and we prevail,” it continued. “… And when a shooter attacked our democracy and tried to end this movement, President Trump will return to the site, joined by tens of thousands of proud citizens, and together, they will celebrate a unifying vision for America’s future in an event like the world has never seen before.”
Trump has also been a regular presence in North Carolina, having done a rally just four days prior in Wilmington. Vance made a visit to Charlotte that featured several stops on Monday, and was in Raleigh the previous Thursday.
Trump noted his special affinity for the Tarheel State, including the fact that his 5-year-old granddaughter Carolina (whom he brought onstage at the Wilmingon event) was named after her mother Lara’s homestate.
But the reason for the extra attention may be less fortuitous, as some top party officials fear a CNN smear campaign against gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson may not only take out the current lieutenant governor and one-time rising GOP star, but also drag down others on the ticket.
Robinson’s absence was palpably felt as Trump specifically referenced the state’s once booming furniture industry—a profession in which Robinson had worked before a viral 2018 speech on gun rights jumpstarted his political career.
Some of the political figures running for office, such as NC-07 congressional candidate Mark Harris have openly expressed their faith in Robinson—who has denied that a series of controversial online posts dating back more than a decade, and well before he was swept into politics, was made by him.
Harris, a Baptist preacher, was the victim of his own Democrat-led smear campaign—winning the 2018 race, only to be forced out amid allegations of illegal ballot harvesting. He was ultimately cleared of wrongdoing. After letting Rep. Dan Bishop keep his seat warm for three congressional terms, Harris is the heavy favorite to win the district in November and finally be fully vindicated.
Nonetheless, those in politically precarious races—including Trump—have been more reluctant to lend their full-throated support to the embattled Robinson, who, if elected, would be the state’s first African–American governor.
Trump posed for photos with Harris, who spoke at the rally, along with 14th district candidate Pat Harrigan. Addul Ali—who is fighting an uphill battle to unseat Democrat incumbent Alma Adams in the 12th district—was also among the VIP guests present.
However, the president made no mention of Robinson, whom he praised in March as “Martin Luther King on steroids” at a rally in Greensboro.
Ben Sellers is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/realbensellers.
