With Trump in Charlotte, his right-hand men descend on Upstate, SC with one message
On the eve of Super Tuesday, several influential Republicans — and sidekicks of President Donald Trump — cascaded on York and Chester counties with the same message: Trump has to, and will, take down Sen. Bernie Sanders, the current front-runner for the Democratic presidential nominee.
Sen. Lindsey Graham toured the newly-opened Rock Hill Sports and Event Center Monday afternoon.
Nikki Haley, former South Carolina governor and former ambassador to the United Nations, helped kickoff U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman’s reelection campaign Monday evening in Richburg, S.C.
And Trump held a rally at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, where he endorsed Graham.
“Bernie Sanders is a train rolling to the Democratic nomination,” Haley told the crowd at Norman’s event. “But what we need to make sure is it’s not just President Trump we’re fighting for. We need to fight for everybody under him.”
Fourteen states, including North Carolina, held Democratic primaries on Tuesday. Former Vice President Joe Biden’s landslide win Saturday in South Carolina dramatically changed the presidential race.
Since Saturday, three candidates — billionaire Tom Steyer, former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar — dropped out. Buttigieg and Klobuchar threw their support behind Biden.
“Joe Biden put his campaign back in high gear,” Graham said in an interview with The Herald. “This was a big win for him...But I think it’s Bernie’s to lose. I think Bernie wins California, Texas. I think Joe will do well in Southern primaries. But at the end of the day, all the energy is with Bernie and I do believe that Joe Biden would be a tough opponent for President Trump. If it’s Bernie Sanders, the Republican Party will do well from top to bottom.”
In Richburg Monday night, Norman touted his congressional record to nearly one thousand people decked out in “Trump 2020” gear. But Norman spent most of his time at the event, which had to be moved from Winthrop University to the Gateway Conference Center to accommodate a larger crowd, praising Trump’s policies and criticizing Sanders, a self-proclaimed ‘Democratic socialist.’
“Folks, we need to stay enthusiastic,” he told the crowd. “We need to fight for this country, the Democratic Party has become the party of the far-left, socialist agenda...The only thing that unites the Democrats? They hate Donald Trump. You saw in the impeachment hearings. The only thing Donald Trump did wrong was he beat Hillary Clinton.”
Many in the crowd laughed.
Haley focused her remarks on support for Norman.
And she often compared the Rock Hill congressman’s accomplishments to Trump’s.
“Under President Trump and Ralph Norman’s watch, wages have gone up, unemployment has gone down,” Haley said. “Your retirement has gotten fatter. Our military is supported like it’s never been supported before. And we are winning wars and have the strongest foreign policy we’ve had in decades.”
Back in Rock Hill, Graham, who also is up for reelection, said his visit to the area was strategic.
“The president of the United States will be in Charlotte,” he told The Herald. “That tells you a lot about North Carolina politics. Nikki Haley is here to help Ralph Norman. Nikki did an awesome job as governor and U.N. ambassador. Ralph’s been a solid Republican, conservative and he’ll be challenged. I’m here to help the president and help myself.”
And in an interview before Norman’s event, Haley said it was no coincidence that on the same day as her visit, Trump, who drew a crowd of nearly 10,000 people, was 40 miles north in Charlotte.
“I think it shows the importance of this area and this region and the Carolinas,” she told reporters. “I mean look you can’t take them for granted. They’re strong supporters of President Trump. They’re strong supporters of Ralph Norman. I think they’re strong supporters of Lindsey Graham. And so, you’re seeing a force come through, saying, ‘We want to keep going higher with wages, low unemployment, bigger retirements and have more people working than ever before.’ And they want it with this team.”
Donna Hudson, of Rock Hill, is part of the force Haley mentioned. Hudson, who wore a blue hat with “USA” written on the front and tied an American flag over her shoulders, had trouble deciding between Trump’s rally and Norman’s event.
“I couldn’t be in two places at once,” she said. “I had committed here first, so I followed through with my commitment. But I would have loved to have been in two places at once.”
Still, from the ample acclaim from Norman and Haley to the uniform-like MAGA hats in the crowd, Trump’s support reached beyond Charlotte and into South Carolina Monday night.
“Thousands of people are in the Bojangles Coliseum tonight,” Norman told the crowd. “I was in Charleston when (Trump) had a rally, and people waited all day long. But when he’s on Air Force One and sitting down — and Ambassador Haley knows this — he’s asking, ‘What can we do to help you?’ He’s the hardest working president that I’ve known in my lifetime.”
This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 6:11 AM.
