ERIE — Donald Trump entered Erie Insurance Arena on Saturday evening to cheering and applause, reveling in the adulation for several minutes before taking to the mic.
“We’re going to win the Pennsylvania primary very easily,” Mr. Trump declared inside the rocking and nearly full hockey arena, which seats about 9,000. “And we’re going to get Joe [Biden] out of the White House.”
Lines of people had waited on the muddy, rain-soaked lawn of the arena Saturday afternoon, awaiting the former president’s campaign speech.
Many wore the familiar red ball cap, now imprinted with some new slogans, including “Save America” and “Take America Back.” Among the sea of red, a rare pink cap read “Women for Trump.”
Mr. Trump touted the conservative successes that came during his presidency and made promises spanning immigration, education, foreign policy — including putting an end to the Ukraine war — and “Biden’s inflation.”
He praised the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, a decision that came after he fulfilled his promise to appoint “pro-life” justices who would roll back the landmark abortion decision.
“Now, pro-lifers have a tremendous power to negotiate which they didn’t have before,” he said.
He promised he would protect the Constitution’s Second Amendment concerning the right to bear arms, to which a loud chant rang out, “USA! USA! USA!”
He also assured he would “defend Pennsylvania’s energy jobs” and stop the fight against fracking.
He said Pennsylvania’s workers were being “brutalized” by the Green New Deal, and he added that the country no longer is “industry dominant” as a whole.
“We want our products made in American factories,” he said.
With voter support, Mr. Trump said he could finish the work he started while he was president from Jan. 20, 2017, to Jan. 20, 2021. With the audience saying it along with him, he ended the rally with one last assurance, that he would “Make America great again.”
Among the speakers who preceded him was Sean Parnell, a Trump-endorsed Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate seat that Sen. Pat Toomey gave up for retirement at the end of 2022. Mr. Parnell ended his campaign in November 2021 after a court battle over child custody with his estranged wife.
The former combat veteran praised Mr. Trump for creating a “booming” economy, supporting the military and law enforcement and enforcing strict immigration laws.
“President Donald Trump and his four years in office accomplished more than any other president, Republican or Democrat, in my lifetime,” he said. “He made our country incredible again. We have an opportunity to do it all again.”
And Carla Sands, ambassador to Denmark during the Trump presidential years, declared him a “law and order president” who brought “prosperity to all Americans.”
In contrast, she criticized the current administration for waging a “war on energy production” in Pennsylvania and nationwide, saying the country needs to revitalize its “energy dominance.”
She also condemned the use of mail-in ballots for upcoming elections, even though the Trump campaign was collecting mail ballot applications inside the arena.
“We’re going to beat the Democrats, we’re going to beat them at their own game,” she said. “We cannot allow them to control the process any longer. We will not ever let them outwork us.”
Before the speeches began, vendors sold everything from $5 flags, to shirts, to buttons, to magnets as pop-up merchandise shops took over Erie’s East Eighth and French streets.
Daniel Tselepis, 65, of Hopewell, was carrying his brand-new black “Veterans for Trump” T-shirt as he waited to get inside the arena. He also sported his newly bought camo cap printed with the presidential seal, a feature that attracted him to buy it.
This was Mr. Tseleopis’ first Trump rally, and he was satisfied so far with the atmosphere.
“This is real Americans wanting to hear something they want to hear,” he said. “Everybody’s happy.”
He called to the crowd with a smile, “Who’s frowning? Anybody?”
Mr. Tseleopis voted for Mr. Trump in the past two elections. While leaning conservative, he plans to head to Democratic rallies in the future to hear other candidates out.
“No matter who’s president, he’s still my boss,” he said. “I have to listen to everybody.”
The 27-year Army veteran, 65, says the economy is the defining issue for him this election. As a PGT Services truck driver, he says his money isn’t going as far these days. He turns 66 and will be able to qualify for full Social Security next year, and he wants to be able to retire. In recent years, that’s felt like a fading goal, he said.
“I still work 50 hours a week. I don’t have a savings account,” he said. “Everything, you know, rents are ridiculous. Insurance is ridiculous. Prices of groceries is ridiculous.
He also sees the struggles in his grandkids’ lives.
“The best job my 20-year-old grandson can find is at McDonald’s,” he said.
With the former president embroiled in several civil lawsuits and federal investigations, Mr. Tseleopis worries that Mr. Trump’s legal troubles may catch up to him and hurt his chances of becoming president for a second time. But won’t it ultimately won’t change his opinion about the candidate, he said.
“I know what he can do,” he said. “I know what people are willing to do working with him. They tried to run it like a business the first two years, then he brought in politicians to subsidize the key business people, and things started happening.”
About those legal problems, Mr. Trump condemned them “ridiculous,” contending they simply were political opposition from Democrats.
“I’m just happy to be standing here,” he said. “What you’re witnessing is a continuation of the single greatest witch hunt of all time.”
Mr. Trump’s rally Saturday brought him back to Pennsylvania’s perennial swing county, one that epitomizes the political shift of white working-class communities that helped send him to the White House in 2016.
Rust Belt communities with formerly industrial economies that had long backed Democrats but felt forgotten latched onto a blunt, billionaire businessman who promised to bring back coal and steel jobs.
Erie County is one of only two in Pennsylvania that voted for Barack Obama before flipping to Mr. Trump in 2016 and then back to Joe Biden in 2020.
Mr. Trump, the front-runner to win his third consecutive Republican presidential nomination, is seeking to retake the the bellwether county in a likely 2024 rematch against Mr. Biden.
When he held a rally in Erie in 2018, he left without paying a $35,129 bill from the city. This time around, the city invoiced his campaign in advance to cover overtime costs for police and other expenses.
Mr. Trump also left the city with one memorable remark in 2020, a rare acknowledgement of his tight race with Mr. Biden. Before cutting the event short citing cold weather, he told supporters here he only visited because the campaign had become more competitive than he hoped.
“Before the plague came in, I had it made,” Mr. Trump said, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I wasn’t coming to Erie. I mean, I have to be honest, there’s no way I was coming.”
A general election rematch in Pennsylvania likely would start neck-and-neck again. A Quinnipiac University poll last month put the pair in a virtual dead heat in the state. In a hypothetical general election, the survey showed Mr. Trump leading Mr. Biden by a statistically insignificant 47% to 46%, within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
Surveys and activities by the candidates show Pennsylvania once again will be a key battleground state in 2024. Earlier this month, Mr. Biden and first lady Jill Biden each made stops in Pennsylvania, visiting Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, respectively, as part of the administration’s summer “Bidenomics” tour touting the president’s economic record. They highlighted investments in manufacturing, clean energy and the workforce.
Mr. Biden has presided over record job growth and near-record low unemployment, and inflation hit a two-year low in June after months of persistently high prices.
But polls and interviews with voters show Mr. Biden isn’t getting much credit for the economic recovery. A recent CNBC survey shows his overall approval rating at 39%. A national poll in June by Quinnipiac University puts him at 41% approval. Mr. Trump remains the GOP favorite even after two criminal indictments and the likelihood of more to come.
Just days before Mr. Trump’s Erie visit, federal prosecutors added new charges to an indictment accusing him of mishandling classified documents.
First Published: July 29, 2023, 10:08 p.m.
Updated: July 30, 2023, 7:34 p.m.
