Eric Trump headlines two rallies for father in south Phoenix, Glendale
In the latest in a string of Arizona visits by surrogates of President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, Eric Trump headlined Wednesday rallies in south Phoenix and Glendale to rally Latino and Evangelical voters.
Eric Trump, the president’s son, made the appearance the day after Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden picked up the endorsement of Cindy McCain, the widow of long-serving Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
In an interview with The Arizona Republic after his morning event, the
younger Trump responded to McCain’s endorsement of Biden by saying he generally does not put a high value on endorsements on either side.
“I don’t think positive endorsements matter, I don’t think negative endorsements matter,” he said. “If they did, in 2016 we would’ve gotten blown out of the water because we didn’t have any endorsements. Actually, we did have one endorsement. We had the endorsement of hardworking Americans who love this country, who love this flag.”
Donald Trump, who carried on a long-running public feud with John McCain, on Wednesday dismissed the Cindy McCain endorsement via Twitter: “Never a fan of John. Cindy can have Sleepy Joe!”
In Phoenix, around 100 people attended the Latinos for Trump rally inside of a building near 20th Street and Baseline Road. Temperatures were taken as each person entered the venue, though the majority of attendees did not wear masks.
Olympian Henry Cejudo, who at one point attended Maryvale High School in Phoenix, said he met with the president last week and supported him even prior to his entry into politics.
“I always thought ... we need a businessman, we need someone like this man to lead our country,” he said.
Cejudo spoke about his upbringing, his immigrant parents, and the notion of the American Dream that he said his mother instilled in him from an early age.
He called himself a “patriot,” adding that he has received criticism for supporting the president.
“Getting backlash as a Latino, you know what that tells me? That there’s a lot of ignorance in this game,” he said.
A few moments after Cejudo ended his speech by saying “I love Trump,” Eric Trump entered the room to much applause.
Trump described himself as Cejudo’s “biggest fan,” and thanked the athlete for his support of the campaign.
Trump covered a wide array of topics in his 20-minute speech, spending much of the time criticizing what he called the “radical” Democratic Party and the Biden campaign, which he said has not done as much outreach to voters as it should have.
Biden in August said he would visit Arizona after Labor Day. His campaign has yet to detail when — or whether — he actually will do so for the first time since eulogizing John McCain in 2018, eight months before entering the presidential race.
In contrast, Trump and a flurry of Trump surrogates recently have visited Arizona, including Vice President Mike Pence, and two of the president’s other children, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr.
Trump on Wednesday characterized his father as a champion for Christianity, freedom and American values, which he said is what the country wants and needs.
In the early days of his presidency, Trump promised pay raises and boosts in military spending. Earlier in the month an explosive report published by The Atlantic quoted unnamed sources as saying the president disparaged military members; the president adamantly denies the allegations.
Eric Trump also highlighted his father’s work in the Middle East, attributing his actions to increased peace and diplomacy in the Middle East. He specifically cited the recent historic flight from Israel to the United Arab Emirates, the first for an Israeli airliner.
The president announced in August that the United Arab Emirates and Israel had agreed to formalize diplomatic relations, a foreign policy win that led to a historic flight between the two nations on Aug. 31.
Trump ended his energetic speech by making a promise to the Trump-loving crowd.
“He will never let you down.”
Jessica Mejía, the Biden campaign’s Arizona state director, said the Eric Trump event “doesn’t mask the fact that
Arizona families have gotten a raw deal over the last four years.”
She highlighted the crossover support that Biden has been getting from Arizona Republicans.
“Joe Biden has a plan to end this pandemic and build our economy back better by creating new jobs here in Arizona, expanding access to affordable health care, and strengthening the middle class,” Mejía said in a written statement. “This election is so important to the future of our country, which is why so many high-profile lifelong Republicans — including Cindy McCain — are crossing the aisle to support Joe Biden.”
On Wednesday afternoon, Eric Trump spoke at a second event: “Evangelicals for Trump: Praise, Prayer, and Patriotism,” at Dream City Church Glendale, 21000 N. 75th Ave., Glendale.
The campaign event had the atmosphere and feel of a political rally, but campaign signs were not allowed.
“For the life of me I cannot understand the war on organized faith in this country,” he told the crowd inside the church.
Bob Lettieri, the Arizona Republican Party’s treasurer, expressed worry about the state of religious liberty before he headed into the event.
“I’m very concerned over the protection of religious freedoms,” he said. “The principles that America was founded on are being attacked.”
Trump also raised the issue of religious liberty in connection with the expected Senate fight over filling the Supreme Court vacancy caused by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
“We are going to fill that seat,” Trump said. “I promise you my father will pick somebody who protects faith in this country.”
Eric Trump calls for Latino vote
In his interview with The Republic, Trump said the Latino vote would prove pivotal in the election, saying that he believed Latino culture “aligns perfectly with Republicans.”
He cited religious liberty and job creation as two of the most important issues for many Latino voters, saying that his father has delivered on both fronts.
The unemployment rate among Latinos hit a record low in 2019, though a May report from the Department of Labor revealed that the unemployment rate among Latinos was at 18.9%, with experts attributing the job losses to the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Trump echoed to The Republic his criticisms of Biden and vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris, painting a contrast between the Trump family’s efforts in 2020 and those of the Biden campaign’s.
He accused the Democratic Party of taking the Latino vote for granted, citing the lack of appearances by both Biden and Harris in Arizona.
“It’s very different from our family,” he said. “If we’re asking somebody to vote for us, respect them, show up, be present, thank them, let them hear from a real person as opposed to a person on Skype.”
Trump said he doesn’t believe the lack of travel and appearances on behalf of the Biden campaign is because of the ongoing pandemic, but rather a lack of support for the former vice president.
“Biden can’t fill a room like this,” he said. “He doesn’t have the enthusiasm, he doesn’t have the energy, he doesn’t have the love, he doesn’t have the passion.”
Trump called Biden’s lack of appearances in the state “disrespectful,” “lazy” and “smug.”
He said he “fully” believes Arizona will prove itself as a red state in November but said he and other surrogates will continue pounding the pavement until election day.
“I never want to be confident,” he said. “Just in life, I always want to play as if we’re four or five points behind and I want to have that work ethic. I would never want to take anything for granted.”