Former President Trump claimed that “few communities have suffered more under the Biden regime than Philadelphia,” while speaking to supporters at Temple University on Saturday evening in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania.Â
“Under crooked Joe, the city of brotherly love is being ravaged by bloodshed and crime,” Trump said while discussing recent shootings and crime statistics.Â
He added: “Under the Trump administration, we’re going to bring law and order and safety back to our streets. We are going to bring success back to our schools. We’re going to bring prosperity back to our forgotten communities. And we are going to liberate our once great cities and make Philadelphia better and more beautiful than ever before.”Â
Trump told the packed crowd inside the Liacouras Center’s 10,000-seat auditorium, “With your vote, Joe Biden’s wave of bedlam and death and terror will begin to recede the moment I take the oath of office.”
TRUMP, BIDEN AIM TO USE DUELING RALLIES IN THESE STATES POST-DEBATE TO PUT EACH OTHER ON DEFENSE
He also discussed illegal immigration and noted that some family members of Rachel Morin, a mother of five who was allegedly murdered last year on a Maryland hiking trail by Victor Martinez Hernandez — a migrant in the country illegally — were in the rally audience.Â
“She wanted to stay in good shape and she ended up getting killed,” Trump said, adding that he had just spoken to Morin’s mother.
“And a lot of Rachel’s family is here. I have to say that they’re incredible people,” he said, adding that “they’ve gone through hell.”Â
Trump also said he was “deeply honored” to be joined at the rally by eight family members of service members killed in Biden’s “catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan.”
He said to the families, “They’re all looking down right now and they’re proud of you, the parents and sisters and brothers. There are a lot of them here.”Â
Pennsylvania Senate candidate David McCormick also came up on stage during the rally, two months after Trump endorsed him.Â
“We have a man who’s a warrior, a great military person, an incredible guy, and we have to elect him as the U.S. senator from your state,” Trump said of McCormick.Â
McCormick told the crowd, “as a father of six daughters, it breaks my heart to hear about these young, young women that are raped and murdered by illegal migrants. Rachel’s story is a heartbreaking thing. As a native son of Pennsylvania, it breaks my heart that 60% of Pennsylvanians are living paycheck to paycheck.”Â
He added, “We need a new president in the White House that’s going to get our country back on track.”Â
Trump’s Philadelphia rally came just days ahead of his first debate with President Biden next Thursday, and after rallies in other deeply Democratic areas like the Bronx, the Jersey Shore and Detroit.Â
Winning the swing state in November is key for both Trump and Biden. Trump won the state narrowly in 2016, but Biden edged him out in 2020.Â
Earlier Saturday, Trump spoke to conservative and faith voters at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s annual Road to Majority conference in Washington, D.C.Â
“Never again will the federal government be used to target Americans of faith,” Trump said at the event, referencing crackdowns on gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He got what appeared to be the loudest applause when speaking on illegal immigration, vowing to begin the “largest deportation operation in American history” on his first day in office.
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Before Trump arrived in Philadelphia, supporters began to gather in the Liacouras Center, waving American flags and sporting Trump gear and “Make America Great Again” signs.Â
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On his way to the rally, Trump stopped at local Philadelphia sandwich shop Tony and Nick’s Steaks to greet customers and employees.
Trump left the employees a $500 tip on his sandwich, reiterating that he’ll end taxes on tips if elected, former New Jersey Senate candidate Mike Crispi said on X.Â
