GREENSBORO, N.C. — Donald Trump brought his campaign to Greensboro Tuesday where he ripped U.S. immigration policies and said President Barack Obama was doing a “hell of a terrible job.”
Trump told the crowd Obama is “more angry” at him than the gunman in the Orlando massacre. He made similar comments yesterday when he told a conservative radio host the president “doesn’t have a lot of anger at what happened to these wonderful people.” Earlier today Obama gave a speech blasting Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric.
Trump brought North Carolina legend Richard Petty on stage at the beginning of the rally. Trump also mentioned Gov. Pat McCrory.
“He’s going a fantastic job,” Trump said of McCrory.
The rally was only interrupted by protesters a handful of times Tuesday. That was in stark contrast to his rallies in Raleigh and Fayetteville. A total of 20 protesters were escorted from the rally with seven of those being arrested. More arrests were made after the rally but those numbers have not been confirmed.
This was Trump’s first stop in the Triad, and his fourth to the state since he began his campaign. His last visit to Fayetteville ended in controversy. A supporter, John McGraw is accused of punching protestor, Rakeem Jones. Five police officer did not arrest McGraw, but picked Jones off the floor and escorted him out of the event. McGraw was later arrested and the officers were suspended briefly without pay. Three of them were demoted.
Trump spent a large part of his fiery speech discussing immigration and the Orlando terror attack.
“Because we can’t let this happen anymore. We can’t. We have to be so tough. We have to be so strong. We have to be so vigilant. We can’t be led by weak, ineffective people,” Trump said. “We want people coming into our country, but they have to come in legally.”
The U.S. should be a country where gay and lesbian Americans, and all Americans, are safe from radical Islam, Trump said.
He called Omar Mateen a “whack job” in the midst of criticizing the country’s immigration policies. He said Mateen’s actions jutifies his call for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S. Mateen’s parents are from Afghanistan.
McCrory campaign spokesman Ricky Diaz said a “scheduling issue” prevented the governor from going to Trump’s Tuesday night appearance at the Greensboro Coliseum complex.
But Diaz says the governor was slated to attend a private event earlier Tuesday featuring Trump and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus for the GOP’s “victory fund.”
Since discovering his intention to continue his campaign in the Triad, Greensboro Police worked with the Secret Service and Trump’s camp to ensure the safety of everyone involved.
After a meeting Friday afternoon with the Secret Service, the chief said he enacted a “level three mobilization,” meaning every officer not on duty was be assigned to Trump’s visit.
Several protesters were taken away in handcuffs by police following the rally.
Dozens of law enforcement officers lined the street keeping the Trump protesters out of the road and from the Trump supporters.
Greensboro police said the rally’s attendance was estimated to be 6,150.
Trump, who turned 70 Tuesday, is likely to face Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, in the general election. Clinton, who will appear in Raleigh a week after Trump appears in Greensboro, will be 69 years old in October.
