Donald Trump tries to blunt Democrats’ momentum in North Carolina

By Gram Slattery and Alexandra Ulmer

FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina (Reuters) -Donald Trump campaigned in North Carolina on Friday for the fourth time in a month, as the Republican presidential candidate tries to firm up support in a state he was handily leading a few months ago but is now among the most competitive in the race.

The former president’s visit to Fayetteville, home to a large military community, came as the state has been convulsed by literal and political storms.

Once-in-a-generation floods triggered by Hurricane Helene killed dozens in the state’s western mountains, while the Republican candidate for governor has faced damaging reports about past inflammatory and lewd comments.

Trump drew cheers from the raucous crowd of thousands packed into a coliseum when he declared that if elected, he would seek to change the name of the state’s sprawling military base, Fort Liberty, back to Fort Bragg. The name, changed last year, previously honored a Confederate general in the U.S. Civil War.

Trump dismissed comments by U.S. President Joe Biden, who cautioned this week that Israel should not attack Iranian nuclear facilities.

“Isn’t that what you’re supposed to hit?” said Trump. “When they asked him that question, the answer should have been hit the nuclear first and worry about the rest later.”

Some Trump allies privately say the race in North Carolina, which Trump won in both the 2016 and 2020 elections, is too close for comfort, even as they think he still has a slight leg up on Democratic rival Kamala Harris ahead of the Nov. 5 election. Hurricane Helene has intensified those concerns amid fears by some Trump advisers and donors who privately worry the storm could depress turnout in the state’s conservative mountain regions.

By some metrics, the vice president is doing marginally better here than she is in Arizona and Georgia, two states which Trump lost in 2020. The three states are among a handful of battlegrounds that both candidates have a legitimate shot of winning next month, and will play a critical role in determining the election winner.

“I’m freaking out about North Carolina,” said one major Trump donor, who was granted anonymity to give his candid assessment of the race. “Georgia and Arizona are not in the bag but heading in the right direction.”

Trump leads Harris by 0.5 percentage point in North Carolina, according to a polling average maintained by FiveThirtyEight, a polling and analysis website. The former president leads Harris by 1.1 points in Georgia and 1.2 points in Arizona. All of those figures are within the margin of error for major polls, meaning either candidate could walk away with a victory.

On his way to North Carolina, Trump stopped in Evans, Georgia, for a briefing at a hurricane response center with the state’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp.

The two men recently struck a truce after Trump publicly criticized Kemp for not supporting the specious election fraud claims he used in 2020 to try to overturn his loss in Georgia.

“I’m not thinking about voters right now, I’m thinking about lives,” Trump told reporters.

HITTING THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL HARD

Trump had been leading Biden by several percentage points in North Carolina before the Democratic president dropped his re-election bid in July and passed the baton to Harris, who has steadily closed the gap with Trump.

While Trump’s ad spending in the state has been relatively modest compared with most other battleground states, he has hit the campaign trail hard. His four campaign events in North Carolina, including stops in Wilmington and Mint Hill, in the last month outnumber those in any other state except for Wisconsin and Michigan, according to a Reuters tally.

The Trump campaign referred a request for comment to North Carolina’s Republican Party. Matt Mercer (NASDAQ:), the party’s communications director, said the Trump campaign was going as planned in the Southern state.

“North Carolina is close and has been for several cycles,” Mercer said. “However, President Trump has won the state twice, and we are confident we will deliver a third time.”

Harris also has made frequent trips to North Carolina and is expected there again on Saturday.

Dory MacMillan, a communications official for her campaign, said Harris “is gaining momentum as voters continue to learn more about Vice President Harris’ vision for a New Way Forward where our freedoms are protected and everyone has the chance to not just get by, but get ahead.”

Among the potential headwinds Trump faces is the state’s Republican gubernatorial candidate, Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, a Trump ally.

In September, CNN reported that Robinson, a Black man, had called himself a “black NAZI,” advocated bringing back slavery and said he enjoyed transsexual pornography in an online chatroom. Robinson denied making the comments.

Analysts say it is unclear if the Robinson scandal will depress turnout among Republicans on Election Day, potentially hurting Trump. But it will certainly not help.

“It hasn’t necessarily changed voters’ minds, but where I would be concerned is that you want everyone rowing in the same direction,” said Doug Heye, a veteran Republican strategist and North Carolina native, who noted the disarray around Robinson’s campaign was hampering its ability to drive voters to the polls.

Privately, two Trump donors and a Trump adviser added that the fallout from the hurricane was a worry. The most affected areas of the state are also among its most Republican.

“If you don’t have a home, do you really care about the presidential election?” the adviser said, summing up the concerns.