GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump told Virginia voters his election will “make possible every dream you ever dreamed” if they turn out and vote for him in November.
“We have 44 days until the big vote,” he said. “You have 44 days to make possible every dream you ever dreamed for yourselves and your country. You have one magnificent chance to deliver justice for every forgotten man, woman, and child in this nation. The arrogance of Washington D.C. will soon come face to face with the righteous verdict of the American worker and voter.”
Trump, speaking two days in advance of the first presidential debate, alternated between outlining the policy positions central to his campaign and assuring voters that the race is winnable. He trails by six points in Virginia, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average, but Trump excited the crowd with word of a national Rasmussen survey showing him with a five-point lead.
He mocked Democratic rival Hillary Clinton’s running mate, saying the senator and former governor wasn’t popular enough to deliver his home state.
“Tim Kaine, less than a week after taking office in Virginia, proposed a $4 billion tax hike on your state,” Trump said during a rally in Roanoke. “We’re just about tied in Virginia and we haven’t started advertising and they’re spending a fortune. She made the wrong pick.”
Trump emphasized that his message can appeal beyond his core constituencies; women, he noted, care about security. And he used the Flint water crisis to make a pithy connection between his core economic policies and his campaign’s outreach to black voters.
“It used to be where the cars were made in Flint and you couldn’t drink the water in Mexico,” he said. “Today the cars are made in Mexico and you can’t drink the water in Flint, Mich. No good folks, no good.”
Trump also acknowledged the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which took place Saturday morning.
“We congratulate and honor those involved with the project and recognize today the incredible contributions of the African American community to this nation,” Trump said. “African Americans have given so much to this nation and sacrificed so much for this nation. Many Africans are succeeding so greatly in our country and I will make sure their success is protected and supported. At the same time, too many have been left behind entrapped in poverty. I will fight to make sure every single African American child in this country is fully included in the American dream.”
