‘BEST IS YET TO COME’
President speaks to thousands of cheering supporters in Berks County
With only three days left before Election Day, President Donald Trump showed how important he thinks Berks County is to his victory.
The president, nearing the climax of a heated race with his Democratic challenger Joe Biden, visited Reading Regional Airport. The stop was one of four he made Saturday in Pennsylvania, a state pivotal to his reelection hopes.
Trump made clear exactly how vital the county and state are.
“If we win Pennsylvania, the race is over,” he told the crowd. “You know, I’m devoting a large percentage of my time to Pennsylvania. The only way we can lose this race is if someone plays games.”
Standing on a platform late Saturday afternoon, Trump spoke to a few thousand cheering fans for about an hour. His speech covered a wide range of topics, including the economy, international trade and foreign policy in an attempt to lay out his case for a second term.
Trump said that if Biden should win on Tuesday that the economy would collapse. But he said the opposite would happen if he won.
In fact, he claimed that he would be able to build the economy back to unprecedented levels that Americans have never seen before.
“If we win, you’ll see a stock market that will go like a rocket ship,” he said.
Trump noted a recent Gallup Poll conducted prior to the first presidential debate that showed that 55% of Americans feel they are better off economically than they were four years ago.
He said that shows that he has delivered on his promise to bolster the economy.
The president also talked about how he has helped the agricultural community, recognizing that the industry is very important in the Keystone State. He said the trade deal he is currently negotiating with China will benefit farmers in the end but that in the meantime he has given $28 billion in bailout money to farmers.
“Farmers were targeted by China because they thought they could rip off the farmers to get the deal they wanted,” he said. “But we were not going to let that happen.”
Turning to another way he said he has delivered for Americans, Trump said he has worked hard to get conservative judges appointed at the federal court level.
According to The Washington Post, Trump has appointed three Supreme Court justices, 53 circuit court judges, 162 district court judges and two judges to the U.S. Court of International Trade. That’s a total of 220 federal judges.
Some of those positions were left over from the Obama administration.
“Pennsylvania, you are so lucky,” he said. “You better get out and vote. You know I had an easy life before this but I’m glad I did this because we got so much done in three and a half years.”
Trump said Biden has been around too long and made too many mistakes while he was in Washington
One of those mistakes, Trump said, was supporting the North American Free Trade Agreement when it was approved in 1993. He said that the deal led to the decimation of the steel and manufacturing industries in Pennsylvania.
“I have done more in 47 months than sleepy Joe Biden has done in 47 years,” he said to cheers.
Trump then touted his foreign policy agenda.
He spoke about approving military operations that took out terrorists Qasem Soleimani of Iran and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of ISIS, withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, getting Jerusalem recognized as the capital of Israel and the peace treaties his administration has brokered in the Middle East.
“I’ve been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize,” he said. “You know, I’m saving lives. I went to them and said you have to stop killing each other. It took me maybe 15 minutes to get peace in the Middle East.”
He then turned his focus to what his supporters can expect if given another four years in office.
He said his administration will shut down sanctuary cities, protect Second Amendment rights, stand up for religious freedom, a new health care plan will be rolled out and the U.S. will be the first country to land a woman on the moon and a man on Mars.
“The best is yet to come,” he said. “Together we are taking back the power and returning it to you. And together we will keep winning, winning, winning.”
Very busy day
Trump made the visit as part of a late push in Pennsylvania. It was the second of four rallies he held in the state on Saturday, starting the day with a stop in Bucks County and finishing up in Lycoming County.
The rally at the airport in Bern Township packed a few thousand people into a setting where social distancing was not an option and a little more than half of his supporters wore a mask.
Berks County Commissioners Chairman Christian Y. Leinbach, who performed the national anthem to the crowd about three hours before Trump took the stage, said he was happy he could play a part in his reelection campaign.
“His policies have had a positive impact on the county when it comes to economic grow th and when it comes to the trade deals he has made,” he said. “Those trade deals have been especially good for our dairy farmers here in Berks.”
Leinbach said he was also happy to see the president was willing to add the county to his final stretch through Pennsylvania. He said it showed that he believes Berks is important to his reelection.
“It’s historically important for our county,” the Tilden Township Republican said when asked if it was appropriate to hold such a large gathering where social distancing was impossible while Pennsylvania is seeing some of its highest coronavirus cases since the pandemic hit.
“I understand that someone who is not a Trump supporter can find all the things that are wrong with the timing of this event because of the coronavirus cases we are seeing,” he said. “But this is historical and there’s no other way to do this so you do what you can.”
Trump’s visit Saturday was the first time a presidential candidate has visited Berks this election cycle and the third time in recent years that a sitting president has visited the county.
Bill Clinton made an appearance at Kutztown University in January 1995 and George W. Bush campaigned in Berks in July 2004.
Berks voters played a critical role in Trump’s 2016 victory that defied poll numbers and shocked pundits.
Trump was the first Republican to win Pennsylvania since George H.W. Bush in 1988. People who had supported Democrats or weren’t regular voters turned out in record numbers to back Trump.
Statewide, Trump came out narrowly ahead of Democrat Hillary Clinton by about 44,000 votes.
But he won by nearly 10 percentage points in Berks, a county Barack Obama won in 2008 and Mitt Romney claimed by only a percentage point in 2012.
Faces in the crowd
Those that gathered gave a variety of reasons for wanting to be at the event.
For friends Dave Molnar and Dave Latino of Wernersville, the chance to see the president deliver his closing argument about why he deserves a second term was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“I think he tells it like it is,” Latino said. “He’s not a politician, he’s not worried who he might offend, he’s someone who gives it to you straight. We wanted to be here to see that with our own eyes.”
Latino and Molnar said those personal qualities and characteristics are definitely appealing but would not be enough to win their votes if he didn’t deliver on his promise to the American people to improve the economy. That is the main reason Trump is their guy.
“He was doing a great job before the pandemic hit and he will build it back better than before,” Molnar said. “This is just like the flu. He knows that closing down businesses and schools is not the answer.”
When asked if he thinks Trump is going to take the Keystone State, Molnar said he feels confident that the president will defy the political pundits once again.
“I think Mr. Biden will be very surprised the day after the election,” he said. “There’s a lot more enthusiasm for Trump because people know he says what he means and he means what he says.”
Enthusiasm and devotion
Joe and Krista Stohl are optimistic as well. The Cumru Township couple said they have been impressed with the way Trump has handled a wide range of issues while in the White House.
“We’re big fans of the president and what he has done for the country,” Joe Stohl said, noting that he’s a veteran and particularly appreciates all that Trump has done for those who wear the uniform. “I watch what he does and says very closely, and he has backed our military more than those before him.”
The couple said they are better off than they were four years ago because of the policies and legislation backed by the president. And they believe that most people can say the same thing.
When asked what they might say to someone who was still on the fence about who to vote for, Joe Stohl said that the economic growth seen under Trump is the reason why he deserves four more years.
“He brought big businesses back to our country by cutting some of the regulations and cutting taxes,” he said. “And prior to the COVID situation, unemployment levels were at a 50year low. It’s the economy.”
Sisters McKenzie and Sophia Harakel, donning bright pink cowboy hats, sat nearby taking in the scene before them as the crowd filtered into the rally. The women said they were so happy for the opportunity to see and support the president.
While Sophia is only 15 and will not be able to cast a ballot, she said she thought it was important to be there. Nineteen-yearold McKenzie, on the other hand, will make her way to the polls on Election Day for the very first time.
“I’m so excited that the first time I vote it will be for President Trump,” she said while making sure her 6-month-old daughter was protected from the chilly temperatures. “He’s probably the best president that we have ever had.”
The Harakel sisters said as members of a family that have their own small business selling stuffed pretzels at events and festivals they think Trump has been a strong supporter of those whose livelihoods depend on reopening the economy.
“If you look at the facts, he’s the one who is going to get us through this tough time and get us back on track,” Sophia Harakel said. “We know that he is the best man for the job.”