ELLERBE — Eric Trump, son of President Donald Trump, contrasted his father’s policies with those of former Vice President Joe Biden — and Democrats in general — during a Friday afternoon rally in the field behind Ellerbe Springs Inn.
Trump opened his speech to the group of around 200 joking that he’d have to rename his daughter, Carolina, if the president didn’t win the Tar Heel State in next week’s presidential election.
When the president ran four years ago, he was running against incompetence in Washington, according to his son.
“Our educational system was broken, our military was broken … they were just running this country into the ground,” Trump said, adding that the prior administration gave $150 billion to Iran, a country listed in former President George W. Bush’s “Axis of Evil.”
“This is why my father ran — not because he wanted the job, not that he, certainly, needed the job,” Trump said.
He then said the Democratic Party has become radical and unrecognizable.
“I don’t call it the Democratic Party,” he said. “This is the difference between right and wrong, the difference between America and, frankly, socialism or communism, call it whatever you want.”
He criticized Democrats for wanting to “take away your free speech,” for constantly attacking religion, for wanting to roll back recent tax cuts and add $4 trillion in taxes, and for their anti-law-enforcement stance.
“This is the radical left, this is what we’re fighting against,” Trump said. “They fundamentally want to change the fabric of the United States of America.”
In contrast, Trump said his father wants: “the greatest economy in the world,” with lower unemployment and higher wages; and “the greatest military on the face of this earth,” which he said was hamstrung by the Obama administration.
Trump then boasted of his father’s achievements as president, including: ramping up production of military equipment, the creation of the U.S. Space Force, a pay increase for service members, and fixing the VA; and four recent peace deals in the Middle East.
Trump also cited 400 miles of border wall constructed during his father’s term in the White House as evidence of a strong policy on immigration, stating that “we have the lowest amount of human trafficking in the history of the country.”
“Drugs are no longer coming across the southern border like they were before,” he added.
He questioned why Biden, who had been in office since before Eric Trump was born, and other longtime politicians didn’t fix the country’s problems.
“Yeah, they are the problem, you’re absolutely right,” he said, responding to a comment from the audience.
Trump also said the current administration doesn’t apologize for America, unlike the previous administration.
“We love this country and we love everything that it stands for,” he said. “America needs to be No. 1 in absolutely everything we do. That’s who we are as Americans.”
In closing, Trump noted how the chants have changed from the 2016 campaign with “Lock her up!” and “Build the wall!” to “We love you!”
“This is no longer politics,” he said, “this is a movement of love.”
Trump left the stage to a standing ovation with audience members chanting, “Four more years!” before working his way into the crowd to shake hands, sign autographs and pose for photos.
Many of those in attendance wore some form of presidential paraphernalia, from hats reading “Make America Great Again,” to multiple shirts expressing support for Donald Trump in 2020.
Prior to Trump taking the stage, local leaders opened the event, with retired Air Force Lt. Col. Ed O’Neal leading the Pledge of Allegiance and Kenneth Robinette, chairman of the Richmond County Board of Commissioners, giving opening remarks.
Robinette thanked the owners of Ellerbe Springs Inn, Mark and Donna Buckeridge, for hosting the event.
“I couldn’t think of a better place to have a rally, a Republican rally … than Ellerbe, North Carolina,” he said. Ellerbe’s known for their hard work, the honesty the conservative (values) that they have, and also the Christian beliefs, the same beliefs the Republican party has.”
Friday’s stop came after a WSOC-TV story focused on Richmond County’s potential as a swing county in the 2020 election. Richmond County voters have had a mixed history in the last several presidential elections. President Obama carried the county in both 2008 and 2012. President Trump then took the county in his 2016 bid for the White House.
The host of the rally, Ellerbe Springs Inn, is no stranger to the First Family. According to the Ellerbe Springs website, First Lady Elanor Roosevelt stayed at the inn in April of 1940.
