GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump brought his campaign to a near-capacity Allen County Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne Sunday afternoon.
Trump spoke at length about putting America first, and how he would improve jobs, the economy and defense. He also touched on Carrier’s decision to move its headquarters from Indiana to Mexico, offering his own solution as president.
“We call up,” he said, “and we say, ‘If you leave Indiana’ -- and you can do it now, you really have time; they haven’t left yet! -- ‘You leave Indiana, every product that you make that comes across that border is going to be taxed at 35 percent.’”
The front-runner touched on other issues central to his campaign, such as trading with foreign countries, enhancing the military and, of course, building a wall along the United States and Mexican border, which he maintains Mexico will pay for.
“2,000 years ago, China built the Great Wall. And they think we can’t build a wall?”
On the subject of China, he lamented all of the "bad deals" that have been made between the United States and China under the current administration and those of the past.
"We can't allow China to rape our country, and that's what they're doing," he said.
He also touted his endorsement of former Hoosier head coach Bobby Knight: “He’s tough, he’s smart, and he knows how to win, which our country doesn’t know anymore; we don’t win anymore. By the way, he can beat ISIS in about two days.”
Trump didn’t waste time taking shots at the alliance GOP opponents Ted Cruz and John Kasich formed last week in an effort to steal the Indiana primary from him.
“They form an alliance,” he said. “By the following morning, the alliance was broken. Okay? It was broken. Kasich said, ‘No, no, vote for me, that’s okay, vote for me.’ Cruz goes, ‘You’re not supposed to say that! They’re fighting with each other.”
While Kasich was spared from most of Trump’s wrath outside of the alliance, Cruz wasn’t so lucky, enduring the brunt of the front-runner’s criticism.
“Lyin’ Ted walks in with his Bible held high. And then he puts it down, and he lies.”
As his speech came to an end, Trump spoke with confidence about his chances in Tuesday’s primary.
“On Tuesday, you’re going to go to vote, and you’re going to say, when you think back five years, ten years, 15 years, 30 years, you’re going to say, ‘That was the greatest vote [I] ever cast,’” he said.
Trump will continue his tour of the Hoosier State Monday afternoon with stops in Carmel and South Bend.
