Just days after receiving the Republican presidential nomination at the GOP National Convention, Donald Trump addressed thousands in Winston-Salem Monday night. Joining him at the Fairground Annex were a number of high-ranking state Republicans, including Gov. Pat McCrory, who appeared at a Trump event for the first time this election cycle.
McCrory stressed the need to elect an "outsider" as president, saying that's what it would take to "clean up Washington." He said he came to the governor's office as an outsider himself in 2012, though he served in elected office for two decades prior to being elected to his current position.
Still, he said his status helped him to solve a number of problems facing North Carolinians.
McCrory said new approaches are needed at the national level to solve problems including threats from terrorists. "We need an outsider because right now as governor I'm responsible for the public safety of North Carolina," McCrory said," and yet we have no idea about the Syrian refugees coming into the country.”
Trump also addressed immigration in his own speech, saying "we have enough problems," and suggested he would build "safe zones" for Syrian refugees that would be paid for by Middle Eastern governments.
Later, Trump took aim at the North American Free Trade Agreement.
"[President Bill Clinton] signed NAFTA, one of the worst trade deals, I would say the worst trade deal ever signed anywhere in the world by any country," Trump said.
He promised throughout his speech that he'd bring jobs back to the U.S. and back to North Carolina. "I'm a person who wants to make great deals for our country," he said.
Outside the Coliseum, the law enforcement presence was heavy for Trump's appearance. Police said about 30 protesters had gathered for the event, which went on peacefully.