Former President Donald Trump listens to US Senate candidate Dave McCormick speak at a campaign rally at the Bayfront Convention Center on Sept. 29, 2024, in Erie, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
ERIE, Pa. —Former President Donald Trump repeated insults of his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, at a rally here Sunday, describing a grim future for the country if he fails to win another term.
“Thousands of migrants from the most dangerous countries on Earth are destroying the character of small towns and leaving local communities in anguish and in despair,” Trump said, referring to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and Michigan, and briefly mentioning the borough of Charleroi. “Our country is being turned into a dumping ground for the world.”
President Joe Biden, Trump said Saturday, “became mentally impaired,” calling it “sad.” He added “There’s something wrong with Kamala. And I just don’t know what it is but there is definitely something missing.”
He also said Harris should be “impeached and prosecuted for her actions,” claiming she was responsible for an influx of supposedly dangerous immigrants at the southern border.
Trump spoke for more than 90 minutes on Sunday, in his usual meandering style, touching on some familiar themes — including reciting the poem The Snake— playing a clip of a crowd cheering him at a football game Saturday in Alabama and playing one of his campaign ads that mocks Harris’ laugh and some of her past statements about border security.
Behind the stage where Trump spoke was a large video screen, which at one point displayed the message “too big to rig,” and instructions to “secure a mail ballot” along with important dates. Trump has pushed mixed messages on his views on mail-in voting, expressing at an August rally in Johnstown the desire to “get rid of mail-in voting,” and telling an audience in Harrisburg in July that mail-in voting “isn’t working. It’s corrupt.”
The former president boasted Sunday about having received support from “rank-and-file” members of the Teamsters. The national Teamsters organization said Sept. 18 it was not endorsing a candidate for president, the first time since 2000 the union had not endorsed the Democrat at the top of the ticket. The Teamsters shared internal polling that showed a majority of its members supported Trump over Harris. Trump thanked Teamsters president Sean O’Brien, who had come under criticism for speaking at the Republican National Convention in July.
Harris has received endorsements from dozens of Teamsters locals, including several in Pennsylvania.
But later in his speech, while Trump was speaking about his proposals to do away with taxes on tips and taxes on overtime, he said “I know a lot about overtime. I hated to give overtime. I hated it.”
The Harris campaign seized on the comment Sunday afternoon in a press release. “Donald Trump is finally owning up to it: He’s built an entire career on screwing over workers. It’s exactly what he did in the White House – trying to rip away tips and overtime pay for millions of workers – and exactly what he plans to do in a second term,” Harris campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in a statement.
Trump praised GOP U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick several times during Sunday’s rally. McCormick, who is seeking to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen Bob Casey, was at the Erie rally, and briefly joined Trump on stage, calling Casey “weak.”
“He’s a career politician. He’s liberal, and we got to send him packing and bring a Republican majority in the Senate to get the Trump agenda across the finish line,” McCormick said.
Casey was campaigning in Pittsburgh on Sunday with U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-California) and former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn. He was asked whether the “argument” that McCormick does not live in Pennsylvania but rather in Connecticut, was “resonating” with Pennsylvania voters.
Casey said he would leave it up to voters to decide what issue was most important to them. “But when you seek to represent the people of Pennsylvania, 13 million people, as their senator, you should not start your campaign lying about about where you live,” he said. “It’s as much about integrity as it is about residency.”
A Bloomberg/ Morning Consult poll released Friday found Harris has a slim lead over Trump in several swing states, with a 5-point advantage in Pennsylvania. With its 19 electoral votes, Pennsylvania is the biggest prize for the candidates among the 2024 battleground states.
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