Trump speaks on taxes, immigration and Kari Lake during Tucson visit
TUCSON, AZ (AZFamily/AP) — Trump ventured west to Tucson on Thursday as he looks to stabilize his campaign, which continues to struggle to recalibrate nearly two months after Harris replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.
Trump visited Arizona to solidify his support in a crucial battleground state, but not everyone who waited hours to see him at Tucson’s Linda Ronstadt Music Hall will be able to help him win here.
While there Trump said that as president he’d seek to end taxes on overtime wages. It’s his latest appeal to the working-class voters he’s counting on to return him to the White House. Trump has also pledged to end taxes on tips and Social Security wages.
“It’s time for the working man and woman to finally catch a break,” Trump said. Harris has announced her own proposal to stop taxing tips, which came after Trump’s first mention of the policy while campaigning in Las Vegas.
The proposals would take a significant bite out of federal revenue, ballooning the deficit unless accompanied by significant spending cuts.
Andres Lopez flew in from the San Francisco Bay Area to see Trump in person for the first time. Lopez, a 31-year-old Army veteran who’s never voted before, said he’s excited to see young people like him getting behind Trump. Hearing the stories of people who were victims of crimes committed by people living in the country illegally motivated him to get involved, he said.
“He’s pretty much saving the country. Look at all the kids, they’re all in danger. All the illegals, they’re killing the kids here and they’re also getting away with it. I don’t want my kid to end up like one of those kids,” said Lopez.
On the topic of immigration, “Border Kari Lake” was the name Trump bestowed on one of his staunchest allies, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Arizona.
Trump is famous for giving nicknames to his political enemies, but nicknames for allies are rare.
“She’s tough on the border. So if you don’t mind I’m going to call her Border Kari Lake,” Trump said to loud applause in Tucson.
Lake, who’s in a tough race against Democrat Ruben Gallego, stood and pumped her fist from the front of the auditorium.
Trump posted on his social media site earlier in the day that Lake and Ohio Republican Senate nominee Bernie Moreno “should be running almost exclusively on the Safety and Security of their States, not allowing Illegal Aliens to get anywhere near Arizona or Ohio, and getting the ones that are already in - OUT!”
Trump, who has campaigned on border security since his first day as a candidate nearly a decade ago, frequently shares the stories of young people sexually assaulted or killed by immigrants who were not living in the country legally. He brought several family members of crime victims to a news conference at the Arizona-Mexico border last month.
Lisa Schwartz of Barrington, Rhode Island, said she’s extremely confident Trump will win. If he loses, she said, that will be a sign the election was stolen from him.
“I think America is waking up and I think people are starting to realize the administration we have now put us in a rut between wars, the economy, prices of gas,” said Schwartz, a 61-year-old retired school nurse who has a home in Tucson but votes in Rhode Island.
As for the Democrats, Second Gentlemen Doug Emhoff was also in the Tucson-area this week as part of the party’s “New Way Forward battleground tour,” which launched after Tuesday’s debate.
Emhoff’s event in Arizona was not open to the public.
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