Donald Trump in Birmingham: 'The silent majority' roars at GOP candidate's stance on imm
Birmingham, AL
series /series Aka Story Package gallery-preview /gallery-preview Aka Secondary Package For a "silent majority," the thousands of people inside the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex sure weren't quiet during a Donald Trump campaign rally Saturday, where the Republican front-runner bashed his competition, the media and President Barack Obama in a wide-ranging, stream of consciousness speech.
Trump, who entered to "Sweet Home Alabama," assailed the media for a "false" story about him wanting databases on Muslims in the United States, but said he was in favor of keeping a close eye on followers of Islam who come into the country in the wake of last week's Paris attacks.
"If you don't mind, I want to surveil. I want surveillance of these people that are coming in -- the Trojan horse. I want to know who the hell they are," Trump said to cheers. "I want surveillance if we have to... I want surveillance of certain mosques."
The Republican front-runner also turned on the media when photographers focused their lenses and video cameras on Black Lives Matter protesters who disrupted the rally instead of Trump.
"They can turn the cameras. These are just lying people. They're very dishonest people," he said. "It's disgusting. Be ashamed of yourselves fellas, be ashamed of yourselves."
Birmingham Police said the protesters were asked to leave the venue for causing a "minor disturbance," but there were no other incidents related to the rally.
The crowd, which filled up about half of the BJCC's North Exhibition Hall and were given signs that read "the silent majority stands with Trump," began chanting "build that wall" as Trump hit on his signature issue – immigration. "We have to take our country back , we have to bring our jobs back. We have to repeal Obamacare we have to replace it," he said. "We have to establish borders and we have to build the wall."
Among the thousands in the crowd was Cheryl Maddox of Locust Fork, who wore a "Make America Great Again" hat to go along with her Trump campaign button.
"I just had to come to see this and I had two knee replacements and I'm standing here," she said. "I like him because he doesn't have to scratch anybody's back to get what he wants."
While Trump's off the cuff speech was light on specific policy proposals, it was dominated by tough talk and shots at everyone from the president to Hillary Clinton to the "Amazing Race," a "terrible" show that beat out his "The Apprentice" for an Emmy Award.
"What you see is a movement, this isn't about me."
He spoke of how corporate inversions, or companies that move their headquarters outside the United States so they don't have to pay taxes, are killing the economy, and told the crowd of his boycott against Oreos because Nabisco moved its plant to Mexico. Trump said his success in building his real estate and entertainment empire were valuable skills that the next president would need.
"I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created -- that I could tell you. The best," he said.
Of Clinton, Trump said the former secretary of state and leading Democratic candidate "doesn't have the strength and she doesn't have the stamina, and we need a president with unbelievable strength and stamina."
He also lobbed attacks on Bernie Sanders, Clinton's main rival for the Democratic nomination, saying the Vermont senator's large crowds "are tanking big league." Meanwhile, Trump gave a shout-out to Mobile, where Trump spoke over the summer and holds the record for largest crowd at a 2016 campaign event with up to 20,000 people hearing him speak at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
Trump continued his slight at former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's enthusiasm, and called another rival, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, "a lightweight."
Ben Carson, who is battling Trump for front-runner status, also wasn't spared from The Donald's wrath.
"[B]en Carson last week was a bad week because his top person and his top consultant said he's incapable of learning about foreign policy," he said.
As for Obama, Trump said, "we have a president that nobody respects." The real estate mogul said he planned to make the country stronger by strengthening the military, arguing that it would be cheaper to beef up the armed forces than fighting wars.
"I'm going to make our military so powerful, so strong," he said. "I'm going to make it so incredibly powerful and strong that we're not going have to use it. It's like you don't pick the fight with the guy you're not going to win [against], unless you're stupid."
Trump boasted of the large crowds that hear him speak at rallies, including the one in Birmingham, where some in attendance wore the front-runner's trademark red "Make America Great Again" hat. He mentioned the slogan before ending his speech to "We're Not Gonna Take It."
"What you see is a movement, this isn't about me. No matter where we go ... it's like love in the room," he said. "The American Dream is dead, but we're going to make it bigger and better and stronger than ever before and we are going to make America great again."