GREENSBORO — Former President Donald Trump spoke for nearly 90 minutes at the North Carolina Republican Party’s Saturday evening dinner, linking his current legal turmoil to an all-out effort to stop him from becoming the Republican nominee and winning the 2024 general election.
Arriving on the stage shortly after 7:30 p.m., Trump basked in a raucous standing ovation from more than 1,200 in the convention ballroom as Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” played to its conclusion. The event was Trump’s second party convention of the day after speaking to Georgia Republicans. He also made a stop at a Georgia Waffle House before flying into Greensboro to hundreds of supporters waiting at the Piedmont Triad Airport.
Trump opened by congratulating state party chairman Michael Whatley on securing a third term as the party’s leader. Trump had also endorsed Whatley before the vote.
“North Carolina is a special place,” said Trump, who prevailed in the 2016 Republican primary and took the state in both 2016 and 2020’s general elections.
He took the opportunity to praise several of the state’s elected officials, thanking Rep. Richard Hudson (NC-09), who restated his endorsement of Trump for president. Trump pointed out Rep. Dan Bishop (NC-08) and Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. He promised Robinson a future endorsement in the race for governor.
One of the themes Trump touched on repeatedly was contrasting his four years in office with President Joe Biden’s term. He talked about stopping endless wars and taking on China. He called revelations of foreign money being deposited in bank accounts controlled by Biden family members a scandal and challenged the media in the back of the room to report on it.
“Walter Cronkite would’ve reported it, but we don’t have any Walter Cronkite’s anymore,” Trump said as he pivoted several other topics including energy, manufacturing and trade.
He then took aim at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, his main foe in the GOP primary, in the speech. Trump recounted how he said he lifted DeSantis from losing his race for governor to being incredulous that he said “no comment” about running against him in 2024, telling the crowd excitedly, “That means he’s gonna run!”
Trump added that since then, “I haven’t been very nice to him,” as the crowd responded with both laughter and cheers from his supporters.
Back to Biden, Trump called his border policies worse than developing nations. “What Third World country would let in 15 million people?” asked Trump as he ticked off the significant differences between his policies at the border and those of his successor.
He continued hitting Biden, saying that American enemies think the country “is being led by fools” and that he is the only one to stand up to them since he’s “been through the fire” of two general election campaigns and four years on the world stage already as president.
One of Trump’s newer stated policies in the speech was also a pitch to enact national concealed carry reciprocity. That has been a top priority for Hudson over the past several Congressional terms and was the first bill he introduced earlier this year. That bill, H.R. 38, would allow people with state-issued concealed carry licenses or permits to conceal a handgun in any other state as long as the permit holder follows the laws of that state.
He also took on current culture hot buttons such as the debate over transgender medical procedures for children under 18, calling them child mutilation, and backed efforts to secure parents’ rights in state legislation. He also affirmed support for keeping biological males out of women’s sports.
In one of many asides of the night, Trump admitted he was surprised at the crowd reactions.
“It’s amazing how strongly people feel about that. I’m talking about cutting taxes, people go like that,” Trump said, making a polite clapping gesture. “I talk about transgender, everyone goes crazy. Who would have thought? Five years ago, you didn’t know what the hell it was.”
One night earlier, it was DeSantis forcefully articulating the case, saying there would be “no compromise” over protecting children.
In closing, Trump asked those in attendance to stand at his side and fight to “Make America Great Again” as the crowd rose to its feet and the Sam & Dave classic “Hold On, I’m Comin’” played Trump out to end the night.
