Donald Trump received a warm reception from veterans Thursday morning, as he touted his patriotic message to a packed room at the American Legion. According to WCPO in Cincinnati, Trump drew a larger crowd and more frequent, enthusiastic applause than Hillary Clinton did on Wednesday.
Crowd seems to be slightly bigger today awaiting Donald Trump's speech at American Legion Convention. @WCPO pic.twitter.com/xDd4CRttq7
— Paula Christian (@PaulaChristian_) September 1, 2016
“We will stop apologizing for America, and we will start celebrating America,” Trump said. “We will be united by our common culture, values and principles – becoming one American nation.”
One day after his visit to Mexico to meet Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and delivering a major speech in Phoenix on that re-drew his hard line on immigration, Trump arrived at the American Legion Convention in Cincinnati shortly after 9 a.m.
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani of New York and Sen. Jeff Sessions, who were with Trump in Phoenix, accompanied him to the Duke Energy Convention Center and Trump pointed them out to the crowd.
Trump seemed to draw a slightly bigger crowd of some 3,000 veterans then came to hear Hillary Clinton’s speech on Wednesday.
While the crowd was polite and clapped for both candidates, their applause for Trump seemed to come more frequently and with more enthusiasm.
The bombastic billionaire took the opportunity to slam Clinton on a couple of fronts: her stance on Syrian refugees, and the email scandal.
He said he would keep terrorists and extremists out of the country by changing immigration screening procedures.
“That includes stopping the influx of Syrian refugees. My opponent wants a 550 percent increase. I, on the other hand, want to build a safe zone overseas – and use the money saved to invest in America,” Trump said. “We do not want to let anyone in our country who doesn’t support our values and is not capable of loving our people.”
He also referred to the recent revelation that she used BleachBit:
“In this future, we will have an honest government that includes an honest State Department. Not pay-for-play,” Trump said to a round of applause. “She probably didn’t mention that to you yesterday.”
“Government access and favors will no longer be for sale and important email records will no longer be deleted and digitally altered,” Trump said. “Which is something they just found out two days ago. Bleached. Bleached — expensive process. Why? 33,000 emails bleached through a very expensive process. You ask yourself what’s going on?”
According to WCPO, Trump spent “at least 10 minutes on stage with American Legion leaders, shaking hands and taking photos” after his speech. Before he left, the crowd reportedly “gave him one final standing ovation.”
You can watch Clinton’s speech at the American Legion (which drew much more subdued applause) here.
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