At New Hampshire Rally, Trump Reminds Crowd of the Key Issue in 2020: The Economy
On Thursday, President Donald Trump visited New Hampshire, a state where he narrowly lost in 2016. Granted, it’s only home to four electoral votes, but you need all you can get. It’s also in the backyard of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — two potential Trump 2020 challengers.
Given the leftward bent of those two candidates, Trump decided to focus his message on one of his biggest victories during his first term so far: the economy.
“Democrats are now the party of high taxes, high crime, open borders, late-term abortion and socialism,” Trump said at the rally, according to The Hill.
“The Republican Party is the party of freedom.”
Trump also said his administration had “created over 6 million new jobs since the election,” and that 7 million Americans “have been lifted off food stamps,” Fox News reported.
“America is working again, America is winning again — and America is respected again, like never before,” the president said.
Trump also said a deal with China isn’t as far off as some in the media are portraying it as.
“We are doing very well with China, despite the fact that they would have you believe to the contrary,” Trump said, calling reports to the contrary “fake news.”
“They want to make a deal,” the president said. “I don’t think we’re ready to make a deal. We’re taking in billions of dollars of tariffs”
Here are some other highlights from the event:
The event, held at the arena at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, drew roughly 12,000 people. During the speech, Trump told the audience that if they wanted their nest egg to stay intact, they had “no choice” but to support his re-election.
“See, the bottom line is, I know you like me and this room is a lovefest and I know that, but you have no choice but to vote for me, because your 401(k)s … down the tubes. Everything is going to be down the tubes,” Trump said, according to CNN.
“So whether you love me or hate me, you’ve got to vote for me.”
If you think a hard turn left would ruin the economy, the president might not be that far off.
A new Fox News poll shows former Vice President Joe Biden still maintains a lead among 2020 Democrats. However, Sen. Warren has risen into second place, just 11 points behind Biden, 31 percent to 20 percent.
Eleven points might seem like a lot, but Biden’s advantage over the rest of the field was much greater in past polls. The same survey, taken in July, showed Biden with an 18 point advantage over his closest competitor, then Bernie Sanders.
Sanders’ support has gradually eroded and much of it has likely gone to Warren, whose positions on the economy are fundamentally similar. Then there’s the fact that Sen. Kamala Harris’ second debate performance hasn’t helped her chances any.
However, the point is this: Sanders is still at 10 percent. There’s been a lot of talk about “lanes” in the Democrat nomination process, the idea that there are several different voting blocs with several different candidates in each fighting it out to be the last one standing.
The potential collapse of Sanders and Harris means that you’re likely to see Warren a lot closer to Biden in the coming weeks. While it’s still early days, the president certainly seemed to realize Warren’s recent ascent in the polls, with plenty of “Pocahontas” references to be had.
“I sort of hope it’s him,” Trump said regarding Biden. “I don’t mind any of them. You’ve got Pocahontas, who is rising. You’ve got Kamala. Kamala is falling. You’ve got Beto. Beto is like, gone.”
If the choice ends up being Warren, the race could come down to two economic views of the United States.
In one, unemployment is low, the stock market has done well (if fluctuating at present), industry is thriving and Americans are getting off of government assistance. In the other, America is a country of gaping inequality where the little guy is getting squashed and where taxpayers need to bail out those with student loans.
At least in New Hampshire, Trump thinks that his vision is going to prevail. After all, the state has the fourth lowest jobless rate in the whole country.
“You have the most successful state in the history of your state, and the history of our country, and you’re gonna vote for somebody else?” Trump said. “We have the best numbers we’ve ever had. Let’s vote for somebody else! I don’t think that’s gonna happen. Only with fixed polls is that gonna happen.”
At least with a far-left candidate like Warren, Trump feels, getting a second term is going to be easy.
“Now we have a bunch of socialists or communists to beat,” Trump told the crowd. “They’re not far away. Does anybody want to pay a 95-percent tax?”
Not if they can help it — and that could be a major problem for the Democrats if someone like Warren is the nominee.
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