Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump landed in Savannah with the intent of explaining his economic plan to the nation should he be re-elected to a second term in November.
Yet for significant numbers who came to witness the former president’s first visit to Coastal Georgia, policy statements about manufacturing were not the priority. For people like Chatham County resident Amy Kersey, 51, the rally was a chance to see a political hero she believes will save the nation.
“Trump loves us, he loves America so freaking much. He cares about us,” she said.
When Trump’s team announced that his first campaign event in Savannah would be at the Johnny Mercer Theater, some longtime local Republicans questioned the decision. With a capacity of 2,566, the venue seats less than a third of the arena where Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris spoke last month, with 9,500 seats. And the time of Trump’s speech — 1 p.m. on a work day — made some folks wonder who would be able to attend.
But early Tuesday morning, the lines snaking through Savannah’s historic downtown Chippewa Square — two blocks away — from the civic center, showed the passion many in the area have for Trump.
John Durden, 60, waited over three hours in line after driving from Midway to see Trump. He spent the morning becoming close to his fellow Trump supporters in line. “He’s not a politician, he’s a businessman,” said Durden of what drew him to the former president. A Trump fan “since the beginning,” Durden identified his top election priorities as the economy, immigration, and health care.
Lynn Young, 59, from Rochelle in Wilcox County, was in Savannah for her son’s upcoming wedding and took the opportunity to attend the rally. “I want my grandkids to grow up in a safe country, the country we all grew up in. I want morality back in our country. I feel like we’ve totally gotten away from that.”
Carolyn Estridge, a 42-year old from Richmond Hill who worked in federal law enforcement in California before moving to Georgia, said she used to be a Democrat prior to Trump’s presidency. “Working in law enforcement, I saw how supportive we felt when he was in office and then how the laws changed and everything became more anti-law,” she said. “That was another thing that kind of made me more of a Trump supporter.”
Andrew Wynn, 17, is a senior at Savannah Country Day and the state champion in the 300-meter hurdles. He says he’s looking forward to his opportunity to vote in November and came to the Trump rally to learn more about the candidate. “I mean, I’m kind of semi-neutral,” he said, though he wore a red MAGA hat. “But I just want to get more educated on some of the policies that I’ll be possibly voting for.”
In his 81-minute speech, Trump promised an American “renaissance” in manufacturing, spearheaded by a push to repatriate jobs and factories, largely by instituting tariffs and a 15 percent “made in America” corporate tax rate for companies who make their products in the U.S. Critics have challenged the efficacy of tariffs.
Before the rally, Mayor Van Johnson, who is also a member of the Democratic National Committee that helps select the party’s presidential nominee, held a separate press conference to criticize former President Trump’s policies on reproductive rights in the wake of the death of Georgia resident Amber Nicole Thurman.
Neither abortion nor reproductive rights appeared in Trump’s speech.
In the strongly Democratic city, however, residents cleared the area streets for Trump supporters, some of whom came from Hilton Head and other South Carolina towns.
Darlene Torrance, who lives in Sun City, S.C., stood at noon in the middle of the long line that twisted for blocks away from the civic center. It was her first rally ever. “I’m so impressed that there are so many people here and still staying in line,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Torrance delved into policy topics as she waited patiently in line, describing in nuance America’s immigration issues and veterans’ needs. She wants solutions to housing insecurity and doesn’t want immigrants to take scarce public resources.
“I’ll be honest with you, I don’t like all this border crossing and all that stuff. Think it’s a disgrace. A lot of people have come here and paid a lot of money to come here legally, to live in this country, and for people to just be able to come over and not pay anything,” she said. “We have veterans and people who can’t afford it living on the streets that are Americans and that, I think, is a disgrace.”
Of the 24 people whom The Current spoke to at the civic center, the top issue for them as voters was the price of groceries and inflation. Immigration was also a widely held concern — a topic that Trump spent significant time on.
Only two of 24 rally-goers who spoke to The Current had manufacturing on their mind.
Michael Todd, 55, a Savannah resident originally from Baltimore, described himself as “not the typical Trumper.” Instead, he called himself “less excited. “When I see things that are practical, make sense, straightforward, then I’m all about it,” said Todd.
The former president spent only a few moments honing his remarks to matters of local importance. He did not mention Georgia’s top economic development project, the Hyundai electric vehicle plant set to open by the end of the year that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp considers a hallmark of his administration.
However, Trump did promise, if elected, to work with Kemp to deepen Savannah’s port. The Hostess City “will soon become one of the premier export hubs anywhere on Earth,” the Republican nominee said. “Your power will lead an American manufacturing boom.”
After the rally, U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-St. Simons, spent time reiterating the message that the Trump campaign wanted voters to focus on: how a Trump presidency will increase American jobs.
Speaking to The Current, Carter also urged voters to focus on policy, rather than the politics of personality that Trump seems to foster.
“You need to do away with all this noise, just shut it out. Don’t worry about whether he said this about her or she said this about him. Just concentrate on policies,” Carter said.
This isn’t the first time Rep. Carter has called to tune out “noise” of interpersonal squabbles. At a Chatham County GOP meeting on August 22nd, Rep. Carter urged the crowd to move past the recent tension between Trump and Kemp — who did not attend the rally.
