Trump Campaigns In Fredericksburg

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(Fredericksburg)- Story courtesy Susan Larson–Fredericksburg.Today

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump held a rally at the Fredericksburg Expo and Conference Center on Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016.

In his opening statement, Trump greeted Fairfax — instead of Fredericksburg. He did not acknowledge or correct the mistake.

Free tickets for the event were gone within a few hours, but the crowd was relatively small because only a smaller portion of the Expo Center was used.

Trump spoke from a teleprompter, and focused on jobs for coal miners and steel workers, tax cuts for family farmers, health care for veterans and active duty military, and building a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.

“We’re going to build the wall and Mexico is going to pay for it” Trump said, to loud cheers. “It will be very easy. Politicians think we’re joking. We don’t joke.”

One of the biggest cheers came when Trump mentioned he’d met earlier in the day with Stafford Sheriff’s Office staff, and visited with Deputy Brandon Boyle, who’d been shot in the line of duty on June 7. Trump asked for a round of applause in support of law enforcement.

Graham Turner of Stafford thought Trumps’ speech was “great.” “His stand behind law enforcement is not what we see with Obama,” he said.

Spotsylvania resident Cheryl Rusk was most impressed with Trump’s promises for family farmers. “I live near a lot a farmland, and I feel for my neighbors,” she said. “They are struggling, to say the least.”

Jim McKelvey supports Trump because he’s worried about appointments to the Supreme Court. “If the Supreme Court goes liberal, they will tear our country apart,” he said. McKelvey is on the Trump Campaign’s 5th Congressional District Virginia Leadership Team.(link is external) “I’ve walked away from my company and my farm to campaign for Trump,” he said.

Irma Garcia stood across the street from the Fredericksburg Expo Center with a small group of people protesting against Trump. The Mexico native became a U.S. citizen in March. He daughter Shayla has just turned 18. Both will vote for the first time in November, and both are supporting Hillary Clinton. “We’re not criminals; our family has worked hard,” Irma said. “We don’t find support with Mr. Trump.”