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Trump Makes Campaign Swing Through Battleground Ohio

With only 43 days until Election Day, President Donald Trump made his way to Ohio’s Miami Valley on Monday and reminded supporters of his promise to fight for American workers.

VANDALIA, OHIO (CN) — With only 43 days until Election Day, President Donald Trump made his way to Ohio’s Miami Valley on Monday and reminded supporters of his promise to fight for American workers. 

The president stopped in Vandalia, a suburb of Dayton, at Wright Bros Aero, an aircraft and aviation services company near the airport. Trump’s stage was set up just outside Wright Bros Aero’s hangar while the crowd assembled inside. Although the event was not open to the general public, the smaller space was packed. Wright Bros Aero employees sat behind the podium.

Originally slated to speak at 4:30 p.m., Trump did not take the stage until nearly 6. Because of the location of the venue, Air Force One was able to pull up in front of the hangar, allowing the president to go directly from the plane to the stage, along with Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. 

Taking the stage quickly, Trump began by telling the crowd the event was not a rally, but a chance to talk to friends about jobs. Very few attendees wore masks at the event. Earlier in the day, Lt. Governor Jon Husted was booed when he suggested the crowd should put on masks. Governor DeWine told reporters last week that he would not enforce his mask mandate at any political event in order to ensure that everyone’s First Amendment rights are protected, although he did encourage masks and social distancing.

Calling Covid-19 “the plague,” Trump told the crowd that Biden shipped jobs overseas, but he had returned them to Ohio. “Sleepy Joe,” he told the crowd, would move the country away from prosperity and jobs. 

“If we win, Ohio wins, and more importantly, America wins,” Trump told the crowd.

When introducing Ohio Republicans, the crowd booed DeWine, who is unpopular with some in his own party due to his hard stance on the virus. 

Trump talked about his past victory in Ohio, and then went on to talk about his Supreme Court pick to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Sept. 18. “It will be a brilliant person, it will be a woman, and we’re looking forward to it. We will announce it on Saturday, maybe Friday,” he told the crowd. 

Jumping from topic to topic, the president to a moment took remind the crowd about Biden’s son Hunter and his time in Ukraine. “The whole thing is crazy, and the fake news does not want to cover it,” he told the crowd, who booed the media in the back of the hangar. 

“He lied to you, he abused you, and that’s why it’s time to retire him,” the president then said about Biden. 

Trump turned to manufacturing, discussing the Democrat’s record on manufacturing jobs. “The workers of America will remember Biden’s treachery.”  

Trump made the tariff fight personal, discussing Ohio manufacturer Maytag. He explained how China and other nations flooded the market with cheaper washing machines, making it tough to sell Maytag’s products, most of which are manufactured in Ohio. He touted the tariffs he put on washing machines, making it easier for Maytag to compete. He riled up the crowd by claiming that Biden would end the tariffs. 

“He’s being pulled left,” Trump told the crowd, which booed. “Do you think he’s going to be tough on China? Biden said the other day that he would remove the tariffs. He gave China free rein to go continue ransacking the American heartland.

“Joe Biden is weak. He’s too scared to stand up to the radical left of his own party. If Biden is elected, China will own America. If Biden is elected, you will have a depression the likes of which you have never seen before,” Trump told the cheering crowd. 

He then spent time discussing trade agreements and deals he made, telling the crowd how he renegotiated and saved American jobs. “They don’t like my personality. Who cares about my personality?” he said. 

“I get along with President Xi of China,” Trump said, telling the crowd how many deals he made with Xi’s government. “But it means less now,” since the pandemic, the president said.

Knowing his crowd, Trump shifted to the military. The Dayton area is home to Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Last week, DeWine sent Trump a letter suggesting Wright Patterson and Dayton as the headquarters for the new military branch, the U.S. Space Force. The move would bring about 1,400 jobs to the area. A decision on the headquarters will be made by the Air Force’s Strategic Basing Office in early 2021. 

“No one’s done what I’ve done for the military,” Trump claimed. “We have weapons, the likes of which no one has seen before. We have the greatest weapons in the world. I call them the super duper weapons. Hydrosonic, but I call them super duper, because no one understands hydrosonic.”

In fact, there is no such weapon as “hydrosonic” and the president appears to be referring to hypersonic missiles.

Trump also took a few moments to discuss his response to Covid-19, claiming that we would see a vaccine by the end of the year. “It’s very sad when the Democrats try to make that a political issue,” he said.

Tying the pandemic to the economy, Trump said, “Under my leadership we built the strongest economy in the history of the world, and now we’re doing it again. If Sleepy Joe Biden wins, the economy will collapse. If we win and when we win the election, you’re going to see things roar.”

He continued: “It’s not that he wants to crush America, but he will just out of gross incompetence. He will surrender to the virus, just like he surrendered to China and just like he surrendered to the radical left.”

Trump then reminded the crowd to vote.

“Get out and vote on Nov. 3rd, and before, depending on if you have one of those fake ballots. Be careful, that thing is going to be a mess. And the Democrats want it to be a mess,” he told the crowd. “They want to have a mess at the end of the evening on Nov. 3rd, so we have to fight it out.”

Early voting begins Oct. 6 in Ohio. Starting earlier this month, voters could request absentee ballots, and drop-off boxes are available at all Board of Election offices. 

Trump ended the event with, “God bless you, God bless Ohio, and God bless America.” 

His campaign stop at the same spot in 2016 came with drama, when a man rushed the stage and was quickly surrounded by Secret Service agents.

Trump next travels north to Swanton, Ohio, for a larger, more public rally. On Tuesday he heads to Pennsylvania for an event in Moon Township. 

Categories / Politics, Regional

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