Trump accuses North Carolina of hurting re-election chances

Donald Trump
Photo credit Sean Rayford/Getty Images

President Donald Trump spent time in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on Tuesday night. The political rally with hundreds in attendance was Trump's third visit to the Tar Heel state in recent weeks. Among the remarks by POTUS during his 76-minute rant was accusations N.C. Governor Roy Cooper was using coronavirus restrictions to hurt his re-election chances. 

"Your state should be open," Trump said at the Smith Reynolds Airport. No surprise, Trump praised Republican Dan Forest for his stance on Coronavirus restrictions and urged those in attendance to vote Cooper out. 

The event went on with virtually everyone in the crowd ignoring social distancing guidelines and a majority not wearing a face mask. A headline from the Winston-Salem Journal on Wednesday morning read, —"Red hats outnumber masks 100-to-1."

The GOP convention opened in Charlotte last month, but due to restrictions ended with Trump accepting the Republican nomination on the south lawn of the White House. Trump pushed the narrative that a possible re-emergence of COVID-19 wouldn't affect North Carolinians going to the polls. 

"On Nov. 4th, every one of those states will be open. They're doing it for political reasons," Trump stated.

The rest of the president's talking points we're predictable: Joe Biden, China, and Kamala Harris. 

On Biden, Trump said, "If Biden wins, China wins." Trump said. He went on to say "Joe Biden's agenda is made in China, my agenda is made in the U.S.A.." The attacks on Biden's running mate sounded semi-personal. "People don't like her. Nobody likes her," Trump said of Harris. "She could never be the first woman president. She could never be. That would be an insult to our country."

What could hurt the president was once again repeating claims of voting twice, which is a felony in North Carolina. He thinks everybody should test the state's election system by voting by mail, then trying to vote a second time in person. "Make sure you send the ballot in and then go to your polling place and make sure it counts. Make sure, because the only way they can win is by doing very bad things," Mr. Trump said

Trump's initial comments last week in Wilmington prompted The North Carolina Board of Elections to instruct votes last week to remind voters the double-vote scheme the president encouraged is illegal.  

Many recent polls show the battle for North Carolina's 15 electoral votes is in a dead heat. Trump won the state by a three-percent margin in 2016, but expect the tally to be closer this time around. 

North Carolina became the first state to mail out absentee ballots on Sept. 4.