TRUMP OFFICE OPENS
Donald Trump’s supporters Audrey Studer, left, and Donna Norris wait at the opening of Trump-Pence campaign office in Canonsburg on Wednesday. Donald Trump Jr. spoke at the event. Story and more presidential election coverage,
Speaking to a crowd of a few hundred of his father’s supporters in a Southpointe parking lot, Donald Trump Jr. pledged, “We’re going to change the direction of this country. We’re going to get it on the right track.”
Invoking a popular campaign slogan, Mr. Trump said, “We’re criticized for saying ‘America First.’ ... For saying ‘we want to spend your money on you.’”
He also made a pitch to constituencies that don’t ordinarily back Republicans, praising “the union laborers in this country who are voting for Trump” and mentioning his father’s education policy. The policy would use federal and state money to provide $12,000 for impoverished elementary schoolers to attend the school of their choice.
Mr. Trump called that an effort to ensure “that those kids in the inner cities have the same opportunities that I was blessed, my sister was blessed, and my brother was blessed to have.”
As he reminded the crowd, Mr. Trump attended the Hill School in Pottstown. Tuition for boarding students there is more than $55,000 this year.
Mr. Trump’s appearance in Southpointe marked the opening of a campaign office at 6000 Town Center Blvd., which will house phonebanking and other volunteer efforts. Monica Morrill, who attended the Republican National Convention as a delegate from Somerset County, said the location made sense because “southwest Pennsylvania is the most populated area [supporting] Trump in Pennsylvania.”
Last week, Democrat Hillary Clinton’s campaign opened an office in the city of Washington, which also had a visit from a famous family member, former President Bill Clinton.
At that event, Washington County Democratic chairman Ron Sicchitano said the county was “a tough battle” for Democrats: Washington County has backed the Republican nominee since 2004.
Attendees for Mr. Trump’s less-than-15-minute speech wielded signs reading “Trump Digs Coal” and messages like “Deplorable Lives Matter,” a reference to a fundraiser at which Ms. Clinton characterized half of Mr. Trump’s supporters as belonging in a “basket of deplorables.”
Earlier, Mr. Trump met with more than 50 supporters at the Green Tree offices of the Republican Committee of Allegheny County.
He took questions from attendees, one of whom asked about the first thing he would do after his father’s Election Night victory.
“Me? I’m going to take a nap,” Mr. Trump said. But in an apparent reference to Ms. Clinton’s health, he added, “The difference between my father and our opponent [is] no one is ever going to question his energy.”