Donald Trump speaks to supporters at Phoenix rally
Jun 18, 2016, 5:23 PM | Updated: Jun 20, 2016, 10:59 am
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives to speak at a rally Saturday, June 18, 2016, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump spoke at a rally in downtown Phoenix at Veterans Memorial Coliseum Saturday.
Trump began his speech by thanking Arizona for the first big crowd he had and said he wouldn’t forget it.
He then transitioned to terrorism, claiming the mass shooting in Orlando was not about guns, but about terrorism.
“If you had someone (with a gun) strapped onto their ankle and had bullets going in the opposite direction, you would have had a very very different result,” Trump said. “Believe me, folks.
“The people in there were totally defenseless, there was nothing they could do and we want to stop it. We want to be smart.”
Later in his speech, Trump claimed similar attacks would happen “again and again” and said “we don’t know what we’re doing.”
The rally ended without any major clashes between supporters and protesters.
Authorities did not report any arrests after the Saturday event inside Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
About two dozen protesters still remained a block away from the entrance.
Shouting matches between them and pro-Trump attendees did not escalate into physical fights.
Trump said the people at the National Rifle Association (NRA) are “great people.” He was applauded by the crowd when he said he will 100 percent protect the second amendment.
The businessman then spent the next 40 minutes bouncing around to several different subject matters, including his opposition Hillary Clinton.
“We haven’t really started, but we have crooked Hillary,” Trump said. “She is so bad in so many ways.”
Trade, women and jobs were also touched on. Trump claimed the United States “has rebuilt China” and spoke on the various roads and bridges being built in China.
Despite polls cited by Trump that he’s “doing unbelievably for men,” he still wants “women for Trump.”
“And I think I’m doing very well with women,” Trump said “In Las Vegas, just having left Las Vegas, we had so many women with signs up ‘women for Trump.’”
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer spoke before Trump and he thanked both of them for being in attendance.
“She’s tough, she’s smart,” Trump said of Brewer. “She was a great governor.”
He also attacked President Barack Obama, saying he “has done nothing for African American youth and everybody knows that.”
Trump spoke for over 40 minutes to the crowd. Protests took place outside the rally and at Encanto Park. One man was removed from the rally earlier in the day for wearing a vulgar shirt.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
