President Trump was back in the saddle at an event in North Carolina on Friday, touting economic gains among black Americans on his watch, slamming Democrats — and vowing to hold more rallies even if he wins re-election in November.
A jubilant Trump spoke at the North Carolina Opportunity Now Summit in Charlotte, veering back and forth from his prepared remarks to riffs on impeachment, his accomplishments and the “fake news” media.
“It was the impeachment hoax. Now that is a thing of the past. Now they have a failed impeachment hoax,” he said at Central Piedmont Community College during the event, which was packed with officials and other supporters but not open to the public.
“They can put that on their resume. That does not go good on a resume. That is a failed hoax. Every one of them has to put it on that resume,” Trump said about his Democratic foes, as the crowd clapped and cheered.
The hour-long event came after the president gaggled for the first time this year on the White House lawn before departing DC, and he appeared buoyant as many chanted “Four more years,” urging the crowd to chant for 12 or 16 more years to annoy his critics and the press.
“Look at all the fake news back there,” he said as the crowd booed.
The commander-in-chief said at one point as he basked in the love that he’d continue holding MAGA rallies even after winning this fall.
“We will keep the rallies going even when we win next time, we’ll do rallies, okay?” he declared.
Trump also mocked the chaotic Iowa caucuses and again took a shot at former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg.
“The Democrats don’t know what the hell they are doing. They go out and they work and spend tens or millions and hundreds of million of dollars and the only thing they did not check to see whether or not the app worked. They were all fried,” he said about technical glitches in the state’s ballot system.
“Now you have all these people fighting it out … and [the winner] turned out to be Pete Buttigieg, whoever the hell that is, mayor Pete. Have you ever seen anything so crazy? They can’t count a simple vote but they want to fix your healthcare system,” Trump said.
And he recounted a story of bringing “tough” people to the Oval Office for their first visit, and how they broke down in tears.
“You see them start to cry, tough people. They have not cried since they were a baby and some of them never cried at all even when they were — and they start to cry when they walk into the Oval Office,” he said.
The president eventually noted: “This isn’t a rally, this is a serious deal,” and returned to his prepared remarks, in which he touted low unemployment among African-Americans, funding for historical black colleges criminal justice reform and the impact the administration’s “opportunity zones’ program was having.
“Under my administration we are working everyday to restore the American promise of upward mobility and we don’t want anyone to just get by. We want everyone to get ahead and get ahead, big league,” he said.
“From the day I took office I have been working to build an unlimited future where African-American communities have given and served and sacrificed so much for our nation, a tremendous amount,” he said.
“I have been fighting for higher wages, fair trade deals, affordable healthcare[ and] lower drug prices. The economy is helping and a lot of things are happening but so many people are benefiting and we want to focus on delivering real results and improving real lives and making the world about a place for every American child, no matter their place of birth or zip code and no matter where they live or where they come from.”
And despite his slams at Democrats and the media, the president ended on a positive note, declaring: “We’re one American family.”
A small crowd of flag-waving Trump supporters and protesters gathered at the school ahead of the president’s arrival, The Charlotte Observer reported.
“Trump is guilty! Trump is guilty!” one group chanted.
“Four more years! Four more years!” supporters responded.
“We want to show Trump that we still support him after that impeachment fiasco,” Carrie Barker told the paper.
The event followed a week in which Trump delivered his State of the Union address and was acquitted of impeachment in the Senate.