The former president switches gears from Biden to Harris as presumed opponent for the presidency.
HARRISBURG, Pa.—Eighteen days after surviving an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, former President Donald Trump returned to this coveted swing state on July 31, a key point in the 2024 presidential race.
“Our resolve is unbroken, and our will is undeterred,” Trump told a cheering crowd that overflowed the 7,318-seat New Holland Arena at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center.
He made that statement as he reflected on the July 13 attempt on his life, before contrasting his track record with that of his new opponent from the Democratic Party, Vice President Kamala Harris.
With a little more than three months to go before the Nov. 5 general election, Harris became a replacement candidate for President Joe Biden, 81. He abandoned his reelection bid on July 21 amid age-related concerns but remains serving as president.
Trump said that regardless of whether his opponent is Biden or Harris, “it’s not about him or her; it’s the policies, and they are the same.”
While Biden and Harris have touted job-creation statistics, Trump said the Biden–Harris policies are stoking inflation and burdening ordinary people. A single mother of four, Tiffany Hall, joined him onstage to describe how she is being affected. Hall said she and her family were better off financially while Trump was in office.
But now, she thinks many people experience what she does while at gas stations, saying to themselves, “Man, here goes the last of what [money] I have.” She choked up as she added, “I would like to be able to go into the grocery store again and not have to put something back.”
Immigration Policies Contrasted
Trump says his policies stemmed the tide of illegal immigration and helped control prices of groceries, gasoline, and other essentials.
“All of a sudden, she’s ‘the new Margaret Thatcher,’” he said, referring to the late British prime minister known for her strong conservative policies. That comparison drew chuckles from the audience.
Trump said increased illegal immigration has caused a host of troubles, including crime and burdens on government services.
He predicted that voters would see how different he and Harris are.
“This November, the American people are going to compare these records and they’re going to tell border czar Harris … ‘You’re fired!’” he said. The audience cheered and laughed when they heard Trump reference his famous line from his TV show “The Apprentice.”
To Frack or Not to Frack?
Pennsylvania is one of a handful of states where a victory could help determine which candidate wins the presidency.
The former president emphasized his policies versus Harris’s on an issue of great importance to Pennsylvanians, fracking, which affects the economy by billions of dollars.
He pledged to combat any such prohibition.
Trump urged people to consider that, even if Harris is now saying she has changed her mind and now favors fracking, “Remember, a politician always goes back to what their original thinking was.”
Race Appears Close
In the RealClear politics average of opinion polls, Trump holds a lead of 2.7 percentage points over Harris in Pennsylvania and about 2 percentage points nationwide.
Rally-goer Mike Mika, 63, said, “We’re not going to sit back and let the media tell us that it’s a blue [Democrat] state and it’s not a Trump state. There’s many of us here, and we’re going to come out in force and support him every time.”
Mika told The Epoch Times that the top issue for him is immigration “because it’s changing the demographics of the country.” He also thinks “they’re trying to sway the future elections” if the United States grants amnesty to illegal immigrants and gives them voting rights.
Respectful Remembrance
Earlier in the rally, the Harrisburg crowd joined Trump for a moment of silence to remember Corey Comperatore, 50, who was killed at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, about 225 miles west of Harrisburg. The former president and two others were wounded. A Secret Service counter-sniper is believed to have killed the suspected gunman.
After Trump described how Comperatore died while shielding his wife and daughter, the crowd chanted, “Corey! Corey! Corey!”
“We will carry Corey’s spirit of love and devotion and patriotism with us for all time,” Trump said, vowing to set a date to hold another rally in Butler.
Sandra Gonzalez, 59, of York Haven, Pennsylvania, said she thinks people considered the Harrisburg rally to be “pivotal,” both because of Pennsylvania’s role as a battleground state and because of the failed assassination attempt.
“We’re showing people who are nefarious: ‘We’re not afraid of you,’” she told The Epoch Times. “People are far more aware. … I think people are looking up at buildings, looking at people in the eyes,” and would be more attuned to any signs of possible trouble, she said.
Jack Robertson, 50, of Spring Grove, Pennsylvania, said too many politicians will “say whatever they need to say” to get elected. He told The Epoch Times that in his opinion, Harris “had three and a half years to prove herself and never took the opportunity to do that.”
