Hillary Clinton,
-
Donald Trump in North Carolina
Galería de Fotos | 12 Fotos Peter Eversoll
After a long and contentious campaign that started in June 2015, Donald Trump makes his final appeals to the public on the day before the presidential election. His second to last stop on the campaign trail is Raleigh, North Carolina, a state with a very divided electorate where both candidates have been polling at a dead-heat over the last few days. Trump has made over a half-dozen appearances in North Carolina in the last two weeks of the campaign.
Trump was very clear of his intention to draw women voters who showed up in force, along with many young supporters and families. Approximately 5000 people attended the event, a crowd that was lively, but not overly raucous as it has been in previous Trump events in North Carolina. Special guest, Mike Huckabee waved to the crowd and posed for photos, but oddly did not come to the stage when beckoned by Trump, who spoke for around 45 minutes.
-
Donald Trump Rally
Galería de Fotos | 18 Fotos Peter Eversoll
The Donald Trump Presidential campaign has been making many visits to North Carolina during the final weeks before the election given the state’s status as a swing state. On November 3rd, Trump held a rally in Selma, an agricultural town located in Johnston County, approximately 30 miles from Raleigh, the state capital. This is “Trump Territory” given the area reflects his strongest demographic of support: white middle class males without a college education. Another signal of his dominance in this area was the turnout, an estimated 5000 people.
The principal theme of the event was the military and the Trump team had several veterans speak and brought onstage twenty generals and admirals, plus another 12 Medal of Honor recipients to serve as a backdrop for Trump. Also very notable was the presence of “Women for Trump” supporters, a coach bus with that exact slogan on the side, pulled up and emptied excited women carrying pink signs. While waiting for Trump to appear, several local politicians praised the candidate and Rolling Stones songs played on repeat over the PA system along with a recorded message of how the crowd should deal with protesters “surround them, raise your signs and chant ‘Trump.’”
Surprisingly, there were many families, youth, people of color and well-dressed folks in attendance, a broad mix of supporters that challenges many pre-conceived notions about Trump’s greatest and most fervent base. Throughout the nearly 5 hour event, the crowd cheered both happily and angrily, mixing chants of “Trump” with “Lock Her Up” and “Drain the Swamp,” even at one point turning towards the media stage to point fingers and boo. The many “Silent Majority Stands With Trump” signs, however, spoke volumes about what this crowd really had on its mind.
