At Florence rally, Trump calls politicians stupid
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke in Florence on Friday night and slammed Washington politicians for making poor deals on the economy, illegal immigration, national security and foreign relations, among other topics.
The campaign rally brought thousands of supporters to the Florence Civic Center two weeks before the Republican primary in South Carolina.
Trump appealed to middle-class voters at the rally and said millions of low- to middle-income jobs are disappearing because of poor economic leadership.
"I like China but they kill us because their leaders are smarter than our leaders. We have a bunch of hacks trying to make deals," Trump said. "We are led by people that are stupid. We are led by people that are incompetent."
Jabs at the Obama administration, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and current Secretary of State John Kerry, were received with an outpouring of cheers from the Florence crowd.
An example of a poor deal Trump cited was the exchange of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five Guantanamo Bay detainees.
“So that deal, we get Bergdahl, who we know is a traitor, and they get five killers who are back in the field,” Trump said. “What kind of deal is that? It’s a terrible deal.”
Trump called Kerry an incompetent representative for the United States, and said the Iran nuclear deal an “absolute disaster.” He said Kerry doesn’t have the wherewithal to negotiate a deal that will get America out of its $19 trillion deficit.
“We’re helping Germany. Nobody knows this. They’re an economic behemoth and we’re helping them financially,” Trump said. “They have to start helping us. We’re trillion of dollars in debt because nobody can make a good deal.”
Trump Supporters
Thousands of supporters turned out for the rally, many of whom are tied to Trump as the GOP’s nominee for president.
Several supporters said they have no back-up candidate to place their trust in.
“There is no second choice,” said Carla Young of Florence. “They’re all bought by special interest groups, just like our current president.”
Some supporters were confident that Trump will get the nomination, despite his loss in Iowa.
“Honestly, I don’t think we have to even think about that,” said John Lambert, member of a Students for Trump. “He’s passionate, he’s generated so many dollars of net-worth with no handouts and he doesn’t lose. We didn’t have the best start in Iowa but that’s going to turn around in New Hampshire and South Carolina.”
“None of the other candidates, Republicans or Democrats, can do what Trump's going to do,” said Ray Brigham of Sumter. “I think your everyday people like what he’s saying and all the others are just going along with whatever Washington does. Trump ain’t like that. He’ll get the job done.”
Trump pledges help for the middle class
Before his campaign rally in Florence on Friday, Donald Trump sat down with a Morning News reporter and a Post and Courier reporter to discuss campaign topics and the economy.
MN: A lot of South Carolinians are worried about the middle class shrinking. What will you do to stop that?
Trump: We have a tax program, as you see has been put in … The middle class, middle income is absolutely being decimated in our country. My tax plan lowers taxes for them substantially, lowers taxes for businesses and gets rid of regulations. We’re going to take care of the middle class.The middle class is almost like the forgotten class. They take care of people at the low end and the high end, and they’ve forgotten about the people in the middle.
MN: You’ve spoken a lot about jobs going to China. What will you do to reverse that?
T: We’re bringing back jobs. China’s killing us because China is taking our jobs. When you talk about middle class, those are the jobs they’re taking – those factory jobs. We’re going to be tough on trade. We’ll have of the best business people in the world negotiating real trade deals, not this nonsense.
Post and Courier: I’m curious on your strategy for South Carolina for the coming weeks.
Trump: I think it’s a similar strategy. You know the theme is Make America Great Again. It’s very strong on the borders, very strong on the Second Amendment. We’re talking about trade deals where we make great deals instead of horrible deals. We’re getting rid of Obamacare; it’s a disaster. We’re going to replace it … It’s very much the same theme I’ve been having because honestly it doesn’t change.
PC: I want to address the elephant in the room, which is Iowa. Any thought on that.
T: I thought it was very unfair to Ben Carson, who is a good guy and a friend of mine. Had those votes stayed with Ben Carson, the results would have been different. He (Cruz) said Ben dropped out of the race and as you know, those votes went to Cruz … If that hadn’t happened, Trump would have won and I don’t think people have forgotten. I thought it was very unfair to Ben Carson.
PC: There are rumors swirling that Gov. Nikki Haley will endorse in the next week. Any thoughts on that?
T: Well, I don’t think she’ll endorse me. I’ve given her a lot of campaign contributions but she obviously won’t be endorsing me and that’s fine … she said my million and millions of followers were angry. I say we are angry because our government is being incompetently run. She can endorse whoever she wants but I don’t think it’ll be me.
MN: Of the remaining Republican candidates, would you consider any as a potential running mate?
T: I don’t like to think too much in terms of running mate. I’m somebody that’s always gotten the deal closed. I want to win and be successful in that way and then think about it. We’ve had some very good people. There were 17 total starting off, and some are gone. We’ll see what happens. I don’t want to talk too much about a running mate until we close the deal.
PC: Any thoughts on your attempt to address the African-American vote in the Republican Party?
T: In the polls I’m doing better than anybody in the Republican Party primaries with African-Americans. We’ve got 25 percent … people say if you get 25 percent you win the election. I think I’ll do fantastically with African-Americans. So many great friendships, such a great relationship. Also, they know I’m going to bring jobs back from China and all these other places that have stolen our jobs.
MN: Have you ever considered growing a beard?
T: I might have to copy you. That’s a great beard, it looks good. I’ll have to consider that.
JOSHUA LLOYD
This story was originally published February 5, 2016 at 11:09 PM.