Donald Trump appeared to realize midway through the rally Monday morning that his campaign appearance in Raleigh, North Carolina, would be his last in the state.
The former president processed that realization in real time, going off-script before returning to ominous territory with his written remarks.
“Think about this: I won’t do this to North Carolina again,” he said. “And I won’t do this anymore with – after today, this is, I just think this, I’m going through this, that this will be our last moment.”
“But the real, more exciting moment is about to begin,” he continued.
Trump spoke at the JS Dorton Arena, taking the stage 40 minutes after his scheduled arrival amid reports of a lower-than-expected turnout at the 7,610-seat venue. Indeed, video from reporters at the rally showed quite a few empty seats the day before Trump faces Democratic candidate Kamala Harris at the polls.
Phew. @VaughnHillyard about Trump’s smaller crowd in the closing days.
“For nine years we’ve talked about the enthusiasm and crowds that came to Trump rallies. But interestingly, we’ve seen much smaller crowds in this last week.” pic.twitter.com/5hJLs4emy9
— Ammar Moussa (@ammarmufasa) November 4, 2024
“Look, these moments of hundreds and hundreds of the most incredible gatherings in any country – no country has ever seen anything like this – but these moments, these moments that we had together, these were really just to create what we hopefully will achieve. create tomorrow, which is: we’re going to make America great again,” Trump said. “So we will have a lot of meetings, but no rally meetings. We will – maybe we will join in our success.”
Trump then returned to his teleprompter, where his written comments gave a dark hint about what would happen if he were elected.
“After all we have been through together, we are on the cusp of the four greatest years in American history,” he predicted.
“With your help, we will restore America’s promise and take back the nation we all love so much. We are one people, one family and one glorious nation under God.”
Trump, who was impeached for trying to overturn the 2020 election results by inciting a violent mob to attack the U.S. Capitol, then vowed he would “never, ever surrender.”
“Together we will fight, fight, fight and win, win, win,” he said. “Nov. 5 will be the most important day in the history of our country.”
