Former President Donald Trump discusses climate change and the American dream at Chesapeake rally that drew thousands – The Virginian-Pilot

CHESAPEAKE — Former President Donald Trump addressed a crowd of thousands at a campaign rally in Chesapeake, attacking President Joe Biden and addressing issues regarding immigration, crime and economy.

The nearly 90-minute speech came a day after Trump sparred with Biden in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election season.

“As every American saw with their own eyes last night, this election is a choice between strength and weakness, competence and incompetence, peace and prosperity or war,” Trump told the crowd. .

Many supporters of historic Greenbrier Farms, located just off the Chesapeake Expressway, began lining up hours before. Doors opened at 11 a.m. and speakers took the stage around 2 p.m., including former Gov. Bob McDonnell, U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans and Republican Senate candidate Hung Cao.

In an attempt to swing Virginia into the Republican Party camp, Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin appeared on stage alongside Trump for the first time. The governor said the United States needs a new leader, citing the southern border and the economy as top issues under the Biden administration.

“I had a friend who once told me that all roads go through Hampton Roads,” Youngkin said. “(Virginians and North Carolinians) are here and (they are) about to help elect Donald J. Trump to the White House. Yes, all roads go through Hampton Roads, and Joe Biden’s road to retirement goes through Hampton Roads.”

Supporters of former President Donald Trump line up for this afternoon's rally in Chesapeake, Virginia, June 28, 2024. (Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot)

Traffic snarled along the Chesapeake Expressway Friday afternoon as fans headed to the 500-acre farm. Inside the event space, several attendees said the security line took about two hours to clear.

Vendors sold all manner of Trump merchandise, from T-shirts emblazoned with Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan to candles, baseball caps and even Trump’s new gold sneakers. Other items reflected more recent events. Several T-shirts for sale bore the slogan “I’m voting for the criminal.”

Trump was convicted of 34 felonies last month related to a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election by paying hush money to a porn star who said they had sex.

Trump lost Virginia in 2016 and 2020, but a Roanoke College poll last month indicated that Trump and Biden were tied in a head-to-head matchup in the commonwealth, with Biden holding a narrow two-point lead when other candidates are included.

“Our case for Virginia is very simple,” Trump said. “We’re going to close the border. We’re going to make the American dream affordable again. We’re going to bring back the American dream, something you don’t hear about anymore. You’re going to bring back the American dream by working with your great Governor Glenn Youngkin. We’re going to make Virginia greater than it’s ever been before.”

Until recently, Youngkin and Trump had a lukewarm relationship. While Youngkin has not criticized the former president, he has avoided appearing with him in public and waited until Trump won the Republican nomination to endorse his campaign. Amid speculation in 2022 that Youngkin might launch his own presidential bid, Trump lashed out on social media, saying Youngkin would never have been elected without his support and mocking the governor’s last name.

Former President Donald Trump and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin shake hands during Friday's rally at Greenbrier Farms in Chesapeake, Virginia, June 28, 2024. (Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot)

During his speech, Trump sharply criticized the U.S. economy under the Biden administration, pointing to higher interest rates and increased inflation.

The former president also criticized Biden's concerns about climate change and said nuclear weapons in other countries posed a much greater risk to the United States. Trump used an incorrect number to describe rates of sea level rise, saying sea levels “could rise 1/8 of an inch in the next 497 years” and joked that would create more waterfront property.

According to the most recent report card from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at William & Mary, Norfolk is rising at a rate of 5.38 millimeters (0.212 inches) per year, making it the highest rate on the East Coast for the fifth year in a row. The forecasts measure changes in relative sea level, or the height of the water relative to the land surface on which people live. More broadly, NASA reported that sea levels rose globally by about 0.3 inches, or 0.76 centimeters, between 2022 and 2023, a “relatively large jump,” according to the report.

Before Thursday's debate in Atlanta, Trump and Biden had not been on the same stage or even spoken since their last debate weeks before the 2020 presidential election. Trump skipped Biden's inauguration after leading an effort without precedent and unsuccessful to overturn his defeat to Biden, which culminated in the January 6 insurrection of the Capitol by his supporters.

At the campaign rally, Trump called for the release of the jailed Jan. 6 rioters, drawing loud cheers from the crowd.

“These people were treated very badly,” he said.

During Trump's speech, the former president also accused Biden of using the Justice Department as a weapon and using law enforcement to try to hurt his political opponent.

The charges Trump was convicted of were brought by state prosecutors rather than federal prosecutors. He faces a litany of other criminal charges, including conspiracy to overturn the results of his 2020 election defeat. There is no evidence that Biden directed the Justice Department or local prosecutors to bring charges against Trump.

Meanwhile, Trump has called for retaliation over his convictions. When asked during the debate what Trump meant when he said he would have “every right to go after” his political opponents if elected, Trump responded by saying that “my revenge will be successful.”

Biden spoke at his own campaign rally Friday afternoon in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The last time Trump held a rally in Hampton Roads was in September 2020, when the then-president spoke to thousands of people on the tarmac at Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport.

One attendee at Friday's event, Theresa Evans of Chesapeake, said it was her first time attending a Trump rally. Evans said she is very concerned about the state of the U.S. economy and believes Trump can “get us back on track.”

Mandy Wettstein of Chesapeake carries an American flag and a Texas flag in her hat as she waits for the start of a rally for former President Donald Trump at Greenbrier Farms in Chesapeake, Virginia, on June 28, 2024. (Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot)

“Our country is very divided and that’s not a good thing either,” Evans said.

Another participant, Olivia Ashworth, drove all night from South Point, Ohio to attend the rally and arrived in Chesapeake at 2 a.m. Friday.

“If I have the opportunity to support him, I will,” Ashworth said. “I love Trump and he's going to be back in office.”

The 22-year-old said the economy was her biggest concern.

“Everyone is struggling,” she said of the cost of living.

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