ASHEBORO, N.C. (AP) — Donald Trump is holding his first outdoor rally since narrowly surviving an attempted assassination in Pennsylvania last month.
Trump’s podium at the North Carolina Aviation Museum & Hall of Fame, where he will deliver a speech on national security on Wednesday afternoon, is surrounded by bulletproof glass that forms a protective wall over the stage.
Storage containers are stacked around the perimeter of the space to create additional walls and block sightlines. Snipers are positioned on rooftops of the venue, where vintage airplanes sit behind the stage and a large American flag hangs from cranes.
The event is part of Trump’s weeklong counterprogramming series to the Democratic National Convention, currently underway in Chicago. Allies have urged him to focus on policy rather than personal attacks as he struggles to adjust his campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
A double dose of Obama’s firepower was on display Tuesday night at the convention, as the former president and former first lady attacked Trump, repeatedly calling him by name.
“His narrow and constricted view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, educated, successful people who happened to be black,” Michelle Obama said of Trump in a stirring speech.
She also referred to a comment he made during a June debate in which he asked: “Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s applying for now might be one of those ‘black jobs’?”
Barack Obama laughed at Trump’s obsession with the size of his audience, calling Trump “a 78-year-old billionaire who hasn’t stopped whining about his problems since he stepped off his golden escalator nine years ago.”
“There has been a constant stream of complaints and grievances, which has only gotten worse now that he is afraid of losing to Kamala,” the former president said.
Trump will be joined on Wednesday by his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, who has spent the week visiting states that have been hit hardest by the Republican primaries.
The trip reflects the importance of North Carolina in this year’s election and is Trump’s second visit to the state in the past week. He appeared in Asheville, North Carolina, on Wednesday for a speech on the economy.
Trump won North Carolina by a comfortable margin in 2016. The state gave the former president his closest statewide victory four years ago, and it is again seen as a key battleground in 2024.
Before Trump arrived, his plane flew over the rally site, and the crowd erupted in cheers.
Lisa Watts, a retired entrepreneur from Hickory, North Carolina, who attended her fifth Trump rally, said she feels “very positive” about the race.
“A month ago they didn’t mention her name and now she’s like, quote quote, ‘the savior of the country,'” Watts said of the vice president. “I don’t think her record shows that she’s ready to lead this country.”
Watts said she doesn’t think Trump’s chances of winning are much different now than when Biden was the Democratic nominee.
“I think the Democrats will do everything they can to keep her on that pedestal,” she said, predicting that the hype around Harris will die down.
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Colvin reported from New York.
