Donald Trump rallies in Rock Hill: What he said about Haley, Biden and state of the race

When Donald Trump walked onto the stage in Rock Hill Friday afternoon, more than 6,000 people at Winthrop Coliseum stood, stomped, cheered, took videos on phones and roared as if Trump were a rock star.

For the supporters seeing him just hours before South Carolina’s Republican presidential primary Saturday, Trump is a rock star.

Trump hit on issues central to conservative voters, who often vote in huge numbers in primaries: Illegal immigration, Democratic Party policies and the perceived failings of President Joe Biden. Trump also slammed his main opponent in Saturday’s primary, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley.

Trump said Haley claimed she would not run and then decided to seek the presidency, seemingly referencing comments she made in 2021.

He worked the crowd, and that’s what Friday was about. Not so much a speech, but a football game-type pep rally to push ahead toward Saturday.

‘The whole world is watching’

Trump repeatedly called out Biden, his likely Democrat opponent, as incompetent.

“If you want to save America, then you must go and vote,” Trump said. “The whole world is watching. We are going to win it. We are going to win it big.”

Trump received some of his loudest cheers when he slammed perceived enemies — political elites, the media and others he sees as being against him having a shot at a second term.

“This nation does not belong to them, it belongs to you,” Trump said.

Trump took aim at Haley, claiming she was supported mainly by Democrats who are against Trump.

“She’s essentially a Democrat, she should probably switch parties,” Trump said.

In a speech that went on for more than an hour, Trump blamed his legal troubles on political enemies and opponents. He repeated what he has claimed for years about the 2020 election being stolen from him, despite those claims having been disproven.

However, Trump said, the legal and election issues have improved his poll numbers.

“I get hit and my numbers went up,” Trump told the crowd. ‘People see it is a scam.”

Primary Saturday: Polls show huge Trump lead

The day before the primary, Trump was far ahead in polls, including one from Winthrop University that had Trump leading former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina governor Haley 65% to 29% among likely Republican primary voters. The ballot also includes pastor and businessman Ryan Binkley and businessman David Stuckenberg.

Haley has blasted Trump’s ego, age and the chaos around him in the days leading up to the primary. Her campaign appearances, advertising and mass mailings have stated she can unite a divided country and get past Trump’s legal problems and rhetoric, which she says are focused on the country’s past and not its future.

Earlier this week, she pledged to stay in the campaign regardless of Saturday’s results.

“We know the odds here, but we also know the stakes,” her campaign manager, Betsy Ankney, told reporters on a call Friday.

Crowd backs Trump, wants Haley to drop out

Thousands of Trump supporters waited for hours Friday to hear him speak at the 6,100-capacity arena, York County’s largest. Rock Hill is South Carolina’s fifth-largest city and York County, about 30 minutes south of Charlotte, is South Carolina’s fastest-growing area, with almost 300,000 residents.

People came from the coast of South Carolina and North Carolina, from Texas and other states. Their support for Trump did not waver, despite the former president’s legal battles, the nation’s fractured politics or concerns about the 77-year-old Trump’s age.

Amber Rainey, 47, of Rock Hill, said she waited in line from 8:30 a.m. to get a seat near the front on the floor near Trump. She wore a “Trump 2024” hat festooned with rhinestones that she said cost her $30.

“Donald J. Trump — best president we’ve had since Ronald Reagan,” Rainey said.

Jimmy Ragsdale, 49, of North Myrtle Beach, drove to Rock Hill to see Trump, as he has done for several other rallies.

“I gotta support him — he’s for the American people,” Ragsdale said.

Ragsdale, like many others at the rally, said Trump has been treated unfairly regarding the numerous court cases to try and keep him off the ballot or make his road to the candidacy difficult.

Tammy Taylor, 56, of Rock Hill, said she wanted to be part of the experience and that she supports Trump’s policy toward immigration at the southern border of the United States.

“I am very concerned about the future of our country,” Taylor said.

Both Ragsdale and Taylor said Haley should drop out of the race because she has no chance at the nomination.

Lori Santana, 58, of Rock Hill, said legal attempts to keep Trump off the ballot are backfiring with voters such as her who want their voices heard. She said free and fair elections are key to the election being decided by the voters, not the courts or any other entity.

“The more they go after Trump, it’s like they are going after me,” Santana said. “Let the people decide.”

The Rev. Rick Cope, pastor at Rock Hill’s Trinity Baptist Church, brought his two granddaughters to see Trump.

“We are here to support what we are going to see as the greatest president in modern history,” Cope said.

Cope, like many attendees, said his support of Trump is geared toward a better future for the country. “The country needs to support Christian values and protect Constitutional freedoms,” Cope said.

Cope said the economy is something all Americans can look to Trump to rebuild.

“We need to get gas (prices) down so that we don’t go back to riding horses to work,” Cope said.

Trump surrogates: Conservative heavy hitters

The rally crowd was warmed up by Trump supporters including U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida.

Taylor Greene and Donalds said Trump is the clear choice of South Carolina’s and America’s Republicans and conservatives, and that Haley should drop out to the benefit of the party and country.

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who once sought the Republican presidential nomination before dropping out and endorsing Trump, told the crowd that Biden’s economy is a mess. He said Trump would again secure the southern border and return law and order to America.

Donalds and Scott, two high-profile African-American leaders in Congress, have campaigned for Trump as he seeks to take back the office he lost to Biden in 2020.

“We deserve a commander-in-chief with a backbone,” Scott said. “Tomorrow, let South Carolina send a message to all America — the Republican nomination is over!”

Primary voting across South Carolina runs from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday.