In a North Carolina speech designed to hone in on his economic message, former President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned of a “1929-style depression” under his opponent, while pledging to roll back major Biden-era initiatives and spending.
Trump’s remarks — which he branded as “intellectual” to attendees in Asheville — frequently veered off into personal criticisms of Vice President Kamala Harris, and included asides on immigration and President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out from the race.
He repeatedly predicted that Harris’ campaign would roll out an economic agenda that is “a copy of my plan,” after the vice president echoed his call to not tax tips. And he said he would “immediately” restore the economy to pre-pandemic conditions if returned to the White House.
“If Harris wins this election, the result will be a Kamala economic crash,” Trump said from the stage at Wolfe Auditorium. “A 1929-style depression. When I win the election, we will immediately begin a brand new Trump economic boom. It will be a boom.”
He sought to illustrate inflation’s impact, asking supporters whether they “feel rich under Kamala Harris and Crooked Joe” than they were under his administration (they shouted “no”). And during the speech, he pulled out regular and miniature containers of Tic Tac breath mints, comparing them and saying “this is inflation.”
Harris will deliver an economic speech of her own in Raleigh on Friday.
Gov. Roy Cooper, in a statement shared by the Harris campaign ahead of the speech Wednesday, called Trump “a bad bet North Carolina can’t afford,” and Harris “a proven winner who’s delivered for our state.”
“People in western North Carolina know when they’re getting played because they experienced it when then-President Donald Trump ran our economy into the ground like he drove his own casinos into bankruptcy, with low wages for working people, fewer jobs and high unemployment,” Cooper said.
Annual inflation fell below 3% for the first time since 2021 in Consumer Price Index data released Wednesday. The cooling rate, combined with a potential cut in interest rates by the Federal Reserve on the horizon, is a pivotal moment in officials’ years-long fight to tame inflation and combat high prices. But it remains a potent political issue, as consumers continue to eye higher costs for food, cars and housing and both parties seek effective messaging on solutions.
Much of the former president’s agenda for the economy involves rolling back spending and initiatives from the Biden White House.
He promised to “terminate the Green New Scam” — a nickname for the administration’s wide-ranging climate agenda — and claw back unspent money. (A POLITICO analysis found that as of April, less than a quarter of the $1.1 trillion dedicated to investments had been spent.)
Trump said he would issue an executive order to direct “every cabinet secretary” to “defeat inflation and bring consumer prices down,” as he lamented the price of food.
“The cost of groceries, the cost of bacon,” Trump said. “I don’t order bacon anymore, it’s too expensive.”
And he repeated his call to “drill, baby, drill,” and harness fracking to produce oil and energy domestically. His administration, he promised, would slash energy prices “by half at least” in the first 12 to 18 months. Trump pledged he would reopen Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to drilling.
Behind him on stage, the background set was emblazoned with calls for “no tax on tips” and “no tax on Social Security.”
At one point, Trump expressed reluctance at solely focusing on the economy, remarking that “they say it’s the most important subject.”
“I’m not sure it is,” he added later, “but they say it is.”
Dispersed throughout his plans were attacks on Harris, several of which he debuted in a rally in Charlotte shortly after Biden said he was stepping aside. He mocked her laugh — “that’s the laugh of a crazy person, I tell you” — and repeatedly called her “stupid.”
“You know why she hasn’t done an interview?” Trump said. “Because she’s not smart. She’s not intelligent.”
Trump’s visit, his second to North Carolina since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, comes as the former president aims to seize back momentum in a reshaped campaign.
Polling across battleground states, including North Carolina, indicates that Harris is narrowing the margins that existed between Biden and Trump, and in some surveys gaining a lead in those states.
The vice president is set to visit North Carolina on Friday for the first time since securing the nomination, after a prior event was cancelled due to Tropical Story Debby.
She will give a speech in Raleigh focused on “her plan to lower costs for middle-class families and take on corporate price gouging,” according to her campaign. And she is expected to call for an expansion of the Child Tax Credit and more affordable housing, The New York Times reported.
Earlier Wednesday, Democratic officials across the state criticized Trump and the conservative policy blueprint Project 2025, warning of potential cuts to Social Security and Medicare and higher prescription drug costs.
“Trump is a con man, convicted felon, and a fraudster who’s doubling down on his extreme agenda to rig the economy for the wealthy at the expense of families in North Carolina,” said North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton. “Vice President Harris has a brighter future for our state, one where families have the chance not just to get by, but to get ahead.”
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