At 7:27 PM, Donald Trump emerged from behind the blue makeshift curtains wearing a dark suit and a bright red “USA” baseball cap. He drew a shape in the air with his finger before walking toward the podium, stopping to pull himself up the stairs before moving behind bulletproof glass at the Gastonia Municipal Airport in North Carolina. He then launched straight into an hour-long campaign rally for Michael Whatley, the Republican candidate for Senate, by attacking Democrats, fabricating crises that do not exist, and telling the crowd, “I was quite impressed with my intelligence. I’m a high IQ person after all.” He was impressed with himself for adding a dollar to a number.
This was his first campaign event since the embarrassing midterm convention in Dallas, and it showed how desperate he has become. He pulled out all the stops to persuade the crowd to vote for his candidate. He threatened our allies, dismissed the cost of his war, and asked North Carolinians to pretend he was on the ballot so they would even show up to vote. “In this election, I’m asking you to pretend I’m on the ballot… just one more time,” he said. “Because, essentially, I am.”
He is right that he is on the ballot. Polling across the country confirms it and shows numbers concerning enough that he is doing something he does not like to do, events like this. The man he was campaigning for, Michael Whatley, is down 11 points behind former Governor Roy Cooper in the most recent Elon University poll. When North Carolinians were asked about Whatley, only forty-seven percent of registered voters even recognized him. This is who Donald Trump handpicked to run the Republican National Committee before bringing him to this Senate race.
Whatley earned this honor after proving himself to be a reliable “yes man” to Donald Trump. Whether he is actually capable of being the senator North Carolina needs right now seems to have mattered far less, after serious questions were raised about his judgment. It would be hard to say that North Carolina, or any state, needs a man who would appear at a campaign event where a registered sex offender, twice imprisoned for crimes involving children, was allowed to lead the opening prayer and ask God for “integrity and honesty.” But that is exactly what happened at an event featuring Whatley. His campaign tried to distance itself, saying it did not organize the event, invite the pastor, or know about his criminal history. His financial interests have also been called into question. Whatley has admitted to having substantial investments in oil and gas companies, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Shell, while championing Trump’s war in Iran.
Trump tried to center the entire event on “Make America Safe Again,” hoping to create a new sense of fear over yet another created issue. He spent a fair amount of his night talking about a horrific tragedy: the murder of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska. She was an innocent victim who had fled war-torn Ukraine and came to the United States looking for safety before being stabbed to death on a train in Charlotte last year. The man who perpetrated the crime had prior arrests and a severe mental illness. It was truly a horrific and senseless crime. Trump decided to turn it into a tool that he could pervert for his own gain. This is how he spoke of her death: “When she got on that train, I watched that so many times.” He told everyone watching that he watched a video of her just before her death “so many times.” He described her fear and the sad details of what was done to her. I’m not going to say any more of his words. She deserved better.
He wasn’t done with her story, because he then blamed Roy Cooper, the former governor, for her death, but what he said was a lie. He fabricated a claim that the man who had killed her was released under a Cooper policy. That was simply not true and has been pointed out many times before. But it does not matter because it plays well for the audience, so he says it anyway.
He also made a point of letting everyone there, and those watching on their screens, know that gas prices from his war in Iran are “a very inexpensive price to pay for what we’ve done,” and then he added that it would be worth it “even if it was frankly even it was a lot more.”
He also threatened to cut off trade with European nations, which deserves its own post. He bragged about seizing Venezuelan oil, saying, “When they say to the victor belong the spoils, that’s one of the greatest cases anyone’s ever seen in history.”
That is the President of the United States of America. I could keep going, but today’s speech only gave us a few new one-liners aside from the new push on safety and to “Make America Safe Again”, after “Great” clearly is not working. With Trump, it’s all threats and cheering for the wrong thing. That is who he is and what his rallies are.
Tonight I am writing this from a different place, a hospital room, while I sit beside a very close family member. I was reminded earlier today how quickly life can shift under your feet, and how everything that you think matters really doesn’t, and how so much of the noise of everyday life instantly falls away when someone you care about is sick. What is left after all of that is the people you love.
As I was watching Trump’s latest rally tonight, my mind wandered like it often does, as it has grown increasingly difficult to sit through the propaganda he shares. I thought about how he has the power to invest in healthcare, education, and the safety nets to support fellow Americans. Instead, he just keeps spreading disinformation and creating a great divide amongst us all.
I am angry once again tonight. This time for all the years he has stolen from us. The moments we can never get back. And our sense of innocence over just how much corruption he is capable of unloading on our country. I think back over the past year and a half, when I have sat down to write post after post, and how there has not been one night, not a single one, where I thought there was nothing to say. Not a single night where I didn’t have something terrible to share about what the president and his corrupt circle had done. Every single day, he has broken down another layer of what makes this country what it is. The weight of staying alert to that while trying to live our lives is a burden that none of us should have to carry. But we carry it because the alternative is worse. Because if we look away, even for a day, he pushes further. Everything Donald Trump does and says is a test. And our response is what he uses as a measure of how much we will tolerate before we stop pushing back. That is why we have to pay attention to everything he says, even the absurd things.
I am also angry at the people still standing with him. His sycophants, the Epstein-class inner circle that profits off of him. And I’m angry at the people who allowed Todd Blanche, his personal attorney turned our Attorney General, who was there with him today and spoke at a partisan campaign rally as though the Department of Justice is just Trump’s personal vindication department. But I am also angry at the everyday Americans who are still standing with him. The ones who know this is wrong, but chose to stay because the cruelty he brings is entertaining. Those who don’t leave MAGA because they find a sense of personal safety by being part of his perceived world and also because leaving would mean admitting they were conned. So many of them would rather abandon the people they care about than cut ties with MAGA. A decade ago, most of them would have been horrified by everything that was said on that stage tonight. Now they cheer for it.
Tonight, I have a very personal request of you. Please take care of each other. Let’s look out for the people beside us, who were already carrying more than they can hold, in a world that has been turned completely upside down. What Trump is doing is hurting more people by the day. Some are barely able to make ends meet and are living moment to moment, worried about being able to afford gas and groceries. Let’s promise to support them as we build back a country where all people have a fair chance to live with dignity, and not just the Epstein class.
We are now 48 days from the midterm elections, and both parties are just starting their election push. When I think of that rally today, I think of the people standing right behind him on that stage. The ones who would have normally been cheering and celebrating. Tonight I saw that and something new: embarrassment and concern. Donald Trump knows how bad the midterms are looking, and so do we. This is our chance to turn this around, and I remain completely convinced we will. That is why I still have hope for America. And you should, too.
I’ll see you tomorrow,
Heather
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This commentary represents my personal opinions and analysis of matters of public concern, informed by publicly available information. Any references to individuals constitute opinion and commentary protected under the First Amendment.
Picture of the day: This wasn’t the best bowl of soup I’ve ever had. In fact, I’d judge it was one of the worst, but I was still very thankful for it. It has been a very long day, and for some reason this was the comfort food I was craving, and the cafeteria actually had it. Here’s to a better day tomorrow!
Sources used in the writing of this post:
WATCH LIVE: Trump campaigns for GOP Senate candidate Michael Whatley in North Carolina: YouTube Video
https://politifact.com/article/2026/feb/09/did-cooper-prison-settlement-release-suspect-in-fa/
Heather
I am so sorry you are having to sit beside a sick relative and am so grateful that you have even so found the time to write to keep us all informed.
As I read the post I was thinking Trump is like the spoilt child that throws a stone into a deep puddle to splash everyone, he has successfully tried to drown us all and the ripples of his corrupt self serving behaviour have caused huge problems world wide.
What is good and hopefully will start things improving is we are beginning to sort out the problems. Mark Carney is making an alliance with Europe, hopefully UK will start mending some European fences and we are all praying the midterms will remove in entirety Trumps evil ability to cause such chaos. Get out there and win the house and the senate.
Heather if I lived in USA I would bring you some soup , I hope you have a better day today. Sending love and hug.
I hope your family member is doing OK, Heather.