Trump’s ‘red flag’ rhetoric: ‘Everybody in the South knows what it means’

Democratic delegates from South Carolina and Louisiana gave a particularly enthusiastic response Wednesday morning to New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who spoke during breakfast about red-flag rhetoric in Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

Landrieu said his ears perk up whenever Trump says he wants to restore America to what it once was.

"That’s not a dog whistle, that’s a train coming down the track. Everybody in the South knows what it means to say, ‘Let’s be great again,’" Landrieu said. "The first question I have is, ‘Exactly when were you talking about? And where were you living when things were so good?’"

The crowd clapped and cheered as Landrieu said he'd rather build a better future for Americans than return them to a purported golden era of the past.

“I want you to come with me. I want you to come with Hillary Clinton. And let me tell you where we’re going: we’re going that way," Landrieu added, pointing emphatically. "We’re going to the future. We’re going to where America’s best days are ahead.”

Before he could finish his remarks amid thunderous applause, the crowd was standing and shouting in agreement.

The delegates offered a warm, albeit more subdued, response to Don Fowler, an at-large member and former chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party and former Democratic National Convention chair.

“Do the Republicans know something that we don’t know? Do the American people have such disdain for the democratic process that they can go up there and act like cavemen?” Fowler asked rhetorically, wondering aloud if Democrats should abandon their ideals in a desperate effort to win over the public.

“Well, I say, no. We don’t,” he answered.

This story was originally published July 27, 2016 at 12:44 PM.