When Lara Trump, the senior advisor for President Trump’s reelection campaign, asked the audience how many of its members had previously voted for Democrats, between 15 and 20 hands shot up from the crowd of 400.
“Look at that,” Trump said. “That’s amazing.”
Trump’s daughter-in-law hosted a small but boisterous campaign rally in Sterling Heights, Michigan, on Tuesday night. Her speech served less as illumination on Trump’s policies for the next four years and more as an attack on the Democratic party.
“The reality is that [Democratic] party has gotten so out of control,” Trump said. “Everyone in that party is so far left that they’re advocating for things like socialism, full governmental control for every aspect of this country.”
Packed house for @LaraLeaTrump’s #KeepAmericaGreat event in Michigan tonight! pic.twitter.com/TwvmNKkezO
— Ali (Pardo) Black (@aliblack) December 18, 2019
The negative sentiments against the Democratic party were shared by members of the audience, even if they used to be part of it themselves.
Yvonne Beadle, 61, cited the president’s “strength” as one of her reasons for supporting him.
“After everything he’s been through…he can still get things done for the country,” she said.
Beadle said she used to be a Democrat but is now a Republican. She voted for Trump in 2016.
“If I could vote 100 times for him, I would,” she said.
Doris Block, 59, said she also switched from voting for Democrats to voting for Republicans around four years ago. Block said she voted to get rid of the North American Free Trade Agreement. She says she worked for a company in the automotive safety industry for 13 years before losing her job in 2000 after it was moved to Mexico.
Block said she now works in healthcare.
Trump’s campaign advisor also focused on alleged collusion with Russia and the Ukraine scandal, calling the impeachment inquiry “Russia 2.0.”
“We all know that this isn’t about a phone call,” Trump said. “This is about the fact that the anointed candidate Hillary Clinton did not win in 2016.”
One audience member called the impeachment inquiry “absolute crap.”
“We’re that far from having to clean our weapons and defend our property,” said Arthur Gwinn, a 70-year-old Vietnam veteran who said he is “absolutely” voting for Trump in the 2020 election.
Gwinn, with a blue and red Trump 2016 campaign scarf around his neck, also criticized both sides of the political aisle.
“Dems are so corrupt,” he said. “The Republicans are so corrupt in this state.” He also said that Republicans are “almost as crooked” as Democrats.
Trump also highlighted women in her speech, saying that more than half of the 7 million jobs brought to the country are “going to the ladies.”
“It’s the lowest unemployment we’ve seen in the history of this country,” Trump said. “Anyone check out the stock market lately? It has grown 10,000 points since Donald Trump took office.”
Trump, who launched the Women for Trump campaign earlier this year, also highlighted women’s contributions to the campaign in her speech.
“In 2016, a quarter of the donations we received at the Trump campaign came from women, now in 2019 as we head into 2020 over half of our donations come from women. They might not be talking to the media, but they are talking with their pocketbooks.”
Trump said that the Trump campaign is confident about the results of 2020, adding that the impeachment inquiry has raised donations.
“If you thought that November 8, 2016 was exciting, watching all the media melt down in hysterics when they had to say that Donald Trump was the next president, think about how good it will be second time around,” she said.
President Donald Trump is slated to appear in Battle Creek, Michigan today.
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Jordyn Pair is a reporter with Battleground State News and The Michigan Star. Follow her on Twitter at @JordynPair. Email her at [email protected].
Photo “Lara Trump” by Doug Coulter. CC BY-SA 4.0. Background Photo “Lara Trump Speech” by Ali Pardo.
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