GREENSBORO, N.C. — At his latest campaign rally, this one in Kinston, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump emphasized many of the same points he has highlighted in several stops across North Carolina over the past several weeks.
Trump, who spoke in both Gastonia and Greensboro on Saturday, implored his supporters who haven’t yet voted to make sure they go to the polls on Tuesday — Election Day. He also praised the citizens of western North Carolina for their resilience in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
“The people of North Carolina are amazing …” Trump said. “People broke (the early voting record). The record has been broken. Now you need to get out Tuesday and vote, and we’re going to break our own records.”
Trump touched on the October jobs report that showed the United States only added 12,000 jobs during the month — the fewest since December 2020. He told his supporters a win by Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris would send the country into a “1929-style depression.”
The former president’s plan to improve the economy, he said, is to impose stiff tariffs on foreign countries who sell goods into the United States. Trump said the plan would generate billions of dollars for the country while simultaneously encouraging US-based businesses to stay at home.
“I’m going to propose a tariff on the outside world and they’re going to pay it for robbing our jobs for years and years,” Trump said. “Some of our worst trading partners are the ones we get along with … It can be changed around in a matter of hours. The president has the right to impose these tariffs on the countries that have been hurting us.”
Immigration was another topic Trump highlighted Sunday. As he has done several times, Trump promised to invoke the Naturalization Act of 1798 to combat the problem of people entering the country illegally if he takes office. He also vowed to mandate that people found living in the country illegally be given 10 years of prison time without parole.
“If (Harris) wins, you will live the rest of your life as second-class citizens in your own country …” Trump said. “If I win, the American people will now lead this country again. The United States is now an occupied country …These towns are being invaded and conquered.”
In one of the stranger moments of Sunday’s rally, Trump compared himself to notorious American gangster Alphonse Capone, who rose to prominence during the prohibition era and, by some estimates, was directly or indirectly responsible for hundreds of murders.
“I’ve been prosecuted more than Alphonse Capone … a lovely man,” Trump said. “He was the meanest. If he didn’t like somebody, it was over.”
Trump will hold a campaign rally in Raleigh at 10 a.m. on Monday. Harris, meanwhile, was in Michigan on Sunday and is scheduled to be in Pennsylvania on Monday.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 5.
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