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President Delivers Rambling Speech That Includes Nods to SALT Act, Voter ID, the Scourge of Trans Mutilation and A Raft of Grievances Against Democrats
By Tina Traster
Donald J. Trump delivered a meandering campaign stump speech that ranged from his usual array of grievances to moments of self-aggrandizement at the Eugene Levy Fieldhouse at RCC on Friday. The president came to boost two tough campaigns for the November midterms: Mike Lawler’s Congressional re-election for the 17th district, which includes Rockland, parts of Westchester, Duchess and Putnam, and Bruce Blakeman’s uphill campaign against New York Governor Kathy Hochul.
The event, at the mark of Memorial Day weekend, paid tribute to fallen soldiers, America’s 250th and a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom to Welles Crowther, the “red-bandannered” firefighter who lost his life after he ran back into the burning Twin Towers to save people on 9/11.
The beautiful spring day attracted thousands to the sports arena where Trump became the second president in the last half century to make a campaign stop in the county. Traffic did not seem to bottleneck, except for the busy roads around RCC. College Road was lined with Mike Lawler signs in both English and Hebrew, suggesting Republicans enjoy support from Rockland’s religious Hasidic community.
The event coincided with Shavout, one of the holy Jewish days, but many religious Rockland residents were in attendance. Groups of Hasidic Jews also lined College Road.
Scores of attendees in red MAGA hats and American flag motifs streamed into the arena for three hours before Trump took the stage. One woman wore a tee-shirt that said, “Gulf of America,” in a nod to the president’s attempt to rename geographical nomenclature. In a lead up to Trump’s appearance, both Lawler and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said tax relief delivered by the Big Beautiful Bill saved Rockland residents $4,000 through the SALT tax deductions.
Blakeman said, “We’re fighting for the American worker,” adding Republicans have put more money back in people’s pockets. Lawler echoed his role in passing the SALT act, emphasizing his close relationship with Trump. He took a stab at protesters who were lined up along College Road saying, “you have to have a seat at the table,” to get things done. He mocked the protesters by suggesting that holding signs outside the arena “gets you there. Outside.”
“I led the charge to restore SALT,” he said, adding Trump has nicknamed him “Mr. Salt.” “We’ve delivered thousands in tax relief for working families and seniors.”
Lawler, the most vulnerable Congressional candidate in the midterms, will likely face one of two Democrats: Beth Davidson, a Rockland County legislator or Cait Conley, a military veteran. Five candidates are running in the Democratic primary, but Lawler was likely referring to Beth Davidson when he said voters will have a choice between him and a “radical left” candidate who will “rubberstamp hyper-partisan policies driven by anger and hatred.”
Lutnick, who said Trump was a “great and extraordinary” U.S. president, delivered a rosy picture on the U.S. economy, saying manufacturing was returning to the U.S. thanks to Trump’s tariffs. He said the U.S. brought in $18 trillion in exports. His speech was muted by the thunder of Marine One, which could be spied through the skylight windows.
“He’s coming, he’s coming,” Lutnick said.
Neither Lutnick nor Lawler addressed inflation, gas prices, loss of healthcare or the economic hardships most Americans are feeling.
Introduced by New York Giant Jaxson Dart, Trump took the stage to adoring thunderous applause. He opened his speech with an alleged picture of New York as a hellscape where businesses are fleeing en masse to Florida, Tennessee, Texas, South Carolina and North Carolina.
“Bruce will stop it, Mike will stop it,” he bellowed. He said crime is out of control (it isn’t), there are illegal aliens everywhere, “people are getting shot all over the place.” Using his usual fear tactics, he said, “That’s why we want to pass the “Save America Act,” he said, stressing that voter ID is necessary. “Who’s against that? He said, answering his question with “the Democrats.” He reiterated he wants to get rid of mail in voting, even though he has availed himself to that.
Then he zigzagged to one of his favorite topics, anti-trans sentiment, saying there should be “no men playing women’s sports” and that trans medicine is a scourge of child mutilation. He rambled for at least ten minutes about Dart’s “legs like tree trunks, sanctuary cities and pharmacies with “toothpaste and toothbrushes locked up behind glass,” before returning to the oft-told stories about trans athletes who had competed in weight-lifting and swimming.
Then he explained how he came up with the phrase “dumocrats,” one of his many derogatory nicknames for opponents he relies upon to gin up the base. He told the crowd the “25 worst cities are blue. He said Hakeem Jeffries is “low IQ.” In case anyone didn’t know, he told the crowd that “Dumb” has a B, and he replaced it with a U. He pivoted to his pet favorite stab against his predecessor asking: “Should we call him Sleepy Joe Biden or Crooked Joe Biden?” Trump has been seen falling asleep in multiple public appearances in recent months.
Trump trumpeted the Dow Jones, which he said has risen to a record 50,000 and the S&P which is over 7,000 but made fun of the word “affordability,” showing no empathy toward struggling Rockland County and American families who are working two or more jobs to put food on the table. He glanced cursorily over the Iran War and said gas prices would come down “very soon,” and would be even lower.
The president said interest rates will be coming down, which will stimulate home building. The Federal Reserve is not likely to bring down rates in 2026 while inflation is going north. He said he’s cut trade deficits by 59 percent, construction spending is up, residential construction is up.
Trump mentioned his wife’s movie “Melania” was the #1 streaming movie, he took credit for recent election losses for candidates that had crossed him, including Thomas Massie, William Cassidy and Brad Raffensperger. He did not mention a string of blue wins nationwide including governors in New Jersey and Virginia. He reprised his go-to about the cognitive tests he’s taken (these tests are typically administered to test for dementia), adding “I’m the smartest guy you’re ever going to meet.”
Repeatedly, Trump, who plays to the phalanx of news cameras the same way he works the crowd, referred to the reporter’s pen as the fake news, gesturing to where they were set up. He repeatedly antagonized the crowd to “boo” reporters.
“They hate me,” he said. “They cover me.”
