Donald Trump reinforces why he's running in Franklin visit
The way Ellen Carter, a 70-year-old from Spring Hill, saw it, the hours-long wait on a drizzly Saturday morning was worth it: Donald Trump is her guy.
“He’s smart, he’s rich and he knows how to do it,” she said of the real estate tycoon-turned-Republican presidential candidate. “He tells the truth.”
Carter was among thousands of Trump supporters who braved the chill and stood in a line that wrapped around the Factory at Franklin’s main building in hopes of catching a glimpse of the candidate.
They huddled under umbrellas, with “Make America Great Again” hats perched on their heads. Hundreds waited outside, despite the fact that the campaign had provided more free tickets than the venue could legally handle.
Many shared Carter’s confidence in Trump, saying that his willingness to be blunt — even politically incorrect — resonated with them. His wealth, they said, indicated to them that he wouldn’t be controlled by outside interests.
And as for whether the billionaire businessman can actually win the GOP nomination?
“If it ain’t him, it’s nobody,” said James Gray, 41, who had brought his 11-year-old son to the rally from Chattanooga.
Saturday’s turnout, Trump said when he took the stage at the Factory’s Liberty Hall, was a continuation of the enthusiasm he’s seen around the country. It amounted to a mandate to enter the political sphere, he said.
"I didn't want to do this," he said to cheers. "I had to do this."
In a wide-ranging speech that lasted more than an hour, Trump emphasized how his status as "not a politician, thank goodness" has propelled him out of reach of opponents who are merely vying to square off against him.
"Everyone wants to be the last man standing to take on Trump," he said. "I so look forward to finding out who I'm going to face."
Although he touched on topics ranging from Syrian refugees (he doubled down on a recent vow to turn them away, garnering applause) to his hair (it’s real), he returned again and again to the theme of his own momentum.
He said he’d filled an arena in Dallas. He talked at length about far outstripping not one, but an entire crowded field of mostly career politicians such as Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the polls.
“The pundits are all saying, 'We don’t understand,’ ” he said. “They’re going crazy because I’m not in their wheelhouse.”
Trump decided aloud against reading from his recently released tax plan, which he has said would lower income taxes for lower- and middle-income Americans while eliminating loopholes for the very rich — all while remaining revenue neutral. Experts have said that isn’t true, and that the plan would actually require substantial budget cuts.
“I came out with my tax plan … but you’ve all read it,” he said.
Instead, Trump recited a portion of the Second Amendment.
Donald Trump's Nashville visit draws cheers, criticism
Asked after his speech about mass shootings such as the one Thursday that left 10 dead, including the shooter, at an Oregon community college campus, he said funding for mental health treatment and not gun control would help stem a tide of violence.
“There’s always going to be problems; there’s always going to be horrible things happening,” he said. “You can make a big dent with mental health.”
Trump also told the crowd that he didn’t support Common Core — a statement that Williamson County Republican Party Chairman Julie Hannah Taleghani said appealed to the local audience.
Trump was the latest in a line of presidential candidates who have visited Williamson County in hopes of building support in the South as the early "SEC primary" approaches on March 1.
Tennessee is expected to play a significant role in choosing a Republican nominee — and the wealthy, deeply conservative base in Williamson County wields powerful influence within the state.
Williamson County officials said they welcomed the visit, which they said underscored the area’s importance.
"It's great to have the Republican front-runner in Williamson County," said state Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin.
Trump was the sixth GOP hopeful to make a stop in the county in three months, Taleghani said, and others are expected to come calling later in the fall.
Dr. Ben Carson and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz made stops in Williamson County in August.
That same month, Trump spoke at Rocketown, a venue south of downtown Nashville, though he didn’t make any public appearances in Williamson.
That event, unlike Saturday’s rally, drew hundreds of protesters, who criticized his characterizations of undocumented immigrants as violent and criminal.
On Saturday Trump echoed many of those views, once again calling for the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border that would be paid for by Mexico — a plan that has been decried as vastly unrealistic — and describing babies born of immigrant parents as drains on the system.
Trump said after the event that he had returned to the Nashville area at the invitation of a friend.
Reach Jill Cowan at 615-664-2150 and on Twitter @jillcowan.
