Trump returns to a sweltering, welcoming South Carolina for first time since indictments

Former President Donald Trump played his own greatest hits reel at the start of a sweltering Independence Day weekend in the South Carolina Upstate, as the 2024 presidential candidate hit familiar refrains ranging from election fraud to border security to his recent criminal indictments in front of a crowd of thousands Saturday in Pickens.

It was Trump’s first visit to South Carolina since January and his first since a pair of indictments have clouded the former president and current 2024 GOP front-runner’s presidential campaign.

Flocking to the heart of the small Upstate town hours ahead of the afternoon rally and Independence Day celebration, the large crowd wasn’t pleased to welcome everyone to the Trump rally stage. Resounding “boos” greeted South Carolina’s senior U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, an Upstate native, as he preceded Trump.

“Alright, thank y’all. Thank y’all very much,” Graham said as boos echoed across the crowd.

Graham has often stood as an avid supporter of Trump, though sometimes critical. In 2015, when Graham himself made a run for president, he notoriously said, “You know how you make America great again?” Graham asked in 2015. “Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.”

A woman in the crowd Saturday said Graham’s “time was up,” as senator and that he was “a traitor.”

The crowd stretched back three blocks of Pickens’ Main Street, lined with food trucks, lemonade and drink stands. Outside the rally, the main stretch of town was blocked off with tents selling t-shirts, flags and Trump merchandise. The former president spoke a few minutes after 1 p.m. after a lineup of his supporters including S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster and U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, of Georgia, spoke.

Doors opened at 9 a.m., but some, such as Tammy Milligan, a 58-year-old semi-retired property manager from Myrtle Beach, arrived much earlier.

Milligan arrived in Pickens the day before the rally. She met her friends at 3 a.m. the morning of the event and got in the line at 5 a.m.

She was wearing a Wonder Woman outfit decked out with a red cape and Trump flag embedded into it, as well as Trump-themed pins across a corset and skirt. She said it was good to see people “get out and stand for God and for what’s good in the world.”

“Who don’t want to come see our great President Donald J. Trump?” Milligan said. “Most importantly, he stands for our God-given rights.”

Milligan said she believed Trump was the most pro-life president in history. She also said the recent charges against him — stemming from a hush-money investigation in New York and an investigation into the handling of classified documents at his Florida residence — were a distraction for “everything going on behind the scenes.”

Out of the gate, Trump’s speech focused on the indictment against him for retaining federal documents and conspiracy to hide them, telling the crowd he had every right to have the documents, “an absolute right to have them.”

“They decided only to come after me, it’s an amazing thing,” Trump told the crowd.

The former president repeated some of his usual refrains about border security, the 2020 election, “protecting life,” and not letting men to play in women’s sports, referencing to transgender athletes participating in sports.

A majority of his speech circled around President Joe Biden, who Trump said is “grossly incompetent and can get us into World War 3.”

“Joe Biden’s policy is China first. My policy is very simple, America first,” Trump told the crowd.

According to an NBC News poll nearly a week ago, if voters were to cast their decision in June, Trump would have 51% of the Republican primary vote, ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, at 22%.

Trump mentioned U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican who’s polling behind both Trump and DeSantis among 2024 candidates. Trump called Scott “a very good man.” But when it came to former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley, another Republican vying for the White House, boos echoed through the crowd.

Of Graham, Trump said, “He’s there when you need him. He was one of my earliest endorsements right from the go.”

Thomas Mura, a 54-year-old from the town of Six Mile, S.C., said he was eager to hear the former president speak.

His right leg was covered with an American flag tattoo that wrapped around his calf and up onto his thigh. He described himself as very “pro-America,” like Trump.

Mura said he had lived in South Carolina for the last nine years and has seen the policies and actions implemented by Haley and Scott, Trump’s competitors. He said they were both very committed and had great ideas but that Trump had proved what he could do before, so he supported him now.

Sandra Dickenson, 77, owner of a small children’s shop in Easley, said the event was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

She got in line at 5:30 a.m. and waited more than two hours to get into Main Street. She was trying to get a seat at the front but was too late. Dickenson said she will be voting for Trump because he cares about the people.

“He’s just heard us,” Dickenson said. “I would just love to have known what he could’ve done if they had left him alone and not tried to throw everything but the kitchen sink at him.”

If Trump were to drop out of the presidential race for any reason, Dickenson said she would vote for Scott over Haley because Scott “pulled himself up.”

“That’s what it’s all about, don’t wait for a handout,” Dickenson said. “He did a hand-up, not a handout.”

Haley did great as governor, Dickenson said, but she doesn’t see her as president.

She also said she likes DeSantis but would still choose Trump over DeSantis because she said she’s confident in what Trump can do as president and knows what he has done before.

Amid the waiting for the former president to take the stage, attendees sought shade under trees or building awnings. Multiple people became overheated while waiting for Trump to speak and were moved to side sections with staff to recover from the heat.

Diego Beltram, 22-year-old real estate agent from Spartanburg, was with his father and younger brother at the rally.

Beltram said he and his family got to the event at 9 a.m. and waited an hour and a half in line.

He said Scott and Haley were pretty good representatives for South Carolina and said they had good policies as far as he was aware.

However, he said he would vote for DeSantis if Trump were not running.

Beltram thinks DeSantis has better chance of winning than Haley and Scott. However, he said he thought Trump has a better grasp on policy implementation and a better record compared to DeSantis.

“DeSantis is a little bit more soft when it comes to the policies he implements, and Trump is more straightforward with what he wants to do,” Beltram said.

Orchestral music blasted from the speakers as Trump finished the last part of his speech, reciting how he would “raid the swamp once more” and “never, ever back down, rescue freedom and justice.” Attendees started to trickle out of the venue during his speech, leaving less than half the crowd standing in the sun cheering Trump on.

Matt Strong, a 42-year-old human resources worker in Greenville, said he will be voting for DeSantis but said he had voted for Trump twice in the past. If Trump won, Strong would support him, but he said DeSantis has a better chance of winning.

“Love it or hate it, Trump ... talks a lot of smack, and he makes a lot of people angry, so he’s not going to win over that neutral independent vote like most people would. But DeSantis will take it I think,” Strong said. “Pretty much anybody in the Republican field other than Trump I think would win.”

Strong said it’s not that he doesn’t agree with Trump, but the former president gives Republicans “the best chance to lose.”

Sporting an American flag cape, Strong said he’s been supporting DeSantis for two years. He thought what DeSantis did in Florida during COVID-19 was “wonderful.”

“He’s young, he’s fresh, he’s not 80 years old.”

He said DeSantis and Trump fall on the same line, and that DeSantis echoes Trump’s policies. But DeSantis is more educated and doesn’t talk like Trump does, Strong.

“DeSantis and Trump are the horses,” Strong said.

“It’s been one thing after another with Trump,” Strong added. “That’s why I’m a DeSantis guy. I’ve seen the big picture.”

This story was originally published July 1, 2023 at 5:39 PM with the headline "Trump returns to a sweltering, welcoming South Carolina for first time since indictments."