Posted on 10/06/2016 4:41:16 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The Republican presidential nominee is scheduled to appear at Bangor's Cross Insurance Center at 3 p.m. on that Saturday.
TURNER — Donald Trump’s son and daughter-in-law touted the presidential candidate’s promises to create jobs and strengthen economic growth while defending U.S. interests abroad during an hourlong visit Thursday to a Maine apple orchard decked out for fall tourists with a petting zoo and a mini-golf course.
On Thursday evening, the campaign announced that Donald Trump will make a campaign stop in Bangor on Oct. 15. The event is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Center.
Lara Yunaska Trump remarked Thursday about the number of “beautiful women” in the audience of about 100 at Ricker Hill Orchard, just outside Auburn, and quipped about how she thought women didn’t vote.
One of the newest members of the Trump family later posed for photos with supporters, even allowing a pet chihuahua to lick her face as if to emphasize her earlier comments that the Trumps are just another “normal American family.”
“Now as a member of this family, I can tell you they are very normal and very relatable,” Lara Trump said. She said Maine was important to the campaign on a number of levels. “It’s part of the electoral map that may get overlooked by some candidates but we feel very strongly that this is the heart and soul of the country, The people of Maine are representative, as a whole, of the country.”
Donald Trump’s third-oldest child, Eric Trump, and his wife, Lara, who will celebrate their second anniversary in November, were on a swing through Maine’s 2nd Congressional District that included stops in nearby Auburn and, later, in Bangor.
In a short interview following their speeches Lara and Eric Trump spoke of how tight-knit the Trump family was, not only working together but also spending many vacations together as well. Lara Trump also responded to a several questions about criticism her father-in-law has faced for degrading statements he has made about women.
“You just have to look at where that narrative is coming from,” Lara Trump said. “It’s from the Clinton campaign, it’s from the mainstream media. Look at Donald Trump’s track record, look at the women he’s employed over the years, thousands of women. He has more female executives in his company than male executives.”
She also touted her sisters-in-law, saying they were “great examples of the way he feels about women and the empowerment he wants to give to women.”
The visit is likely aimed at reinforcing the Republican presidential candidate’s lead in the polls in the 2nd Congressional District, which is more rural, northern and conservative than its 1st District counterpart.
Trump and now a pair of his top surrogates have visited the state a total of four times since the brash billionaire firebrand announced he wanted to be president in 2015.
Maine Gov. Paul LePage, a Trump supporter, arrived at the orchard around 1 p.m., just before the Trumps.
With a 15-point lead in the most recent Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram poll conducted by the University of New England Survey Center in mid-September, Trump’s campaign seemed to lock in early on the notion that it might split Maine’s four Electoral College votes in November.
Maine’s equally controversial governor, who first supported New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in the race for the White House, has thrown his support to Trump, stumping with the candidate each time he’s come to Maine.
LePage told the crowd Thursday it was time to put a businessman in charge of America’s business. “There’s nothing wrong with having a businessman run something,” LePage said. “He’s the only candidate who has ever run anything legitimately.”
LePage also defended Trump against critics who have claimed the candidate hasn’t paid any federal income taxes. “Did he break the law?” LePage asked. “I defy anybody to willingly pay taxes they don’t owe.”
Eric Trump later told reporters that his father did pay federal income taxes, along with a host of taxes on his business properties including real estate taxes and sales taxes. He also went on the attack, criticizing Clinton for not being more transparent by making herself available to the press.
“We’ve been very in front of the media, we’ve quite frankly, been there to answer every question and there have been periods were she has gone more than a year without holding a single press conference and that’s a little bit scary,” Eric Trump said. “My father is an incredibly transparent person, he has been very direct in terms of his message and it’s simple, ‘Put America first again. Let’s make America great again. Let’s restore respect to a country that’s getting ripped off by so many nations around the world.”
Maine, one of only two states that allocate Electoral College votes by congressional district, gives one vote to the winner of each district and two votes to the statewide winner in a presidential race. A number of pundits, political scientists and procrastinators said there’s a fair chance Trump could capture the 2nd District, in a historic vote that hasn’t occurred since Maine changed its rules for Electoral College votes in 1969.
The state has on one other occasion split its Electoral College votes, but that was in 1828 – under a different system and when the state had nine votes, giving one to Andrew Jackson and eight to John Quincy Adams, according to Paul Mills, a Farmington historian, attorney and author.
Meanwhile, Trump’s rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, has a near 20-point lead in the 1st District, according to the newspaper’s mid-September poll.
Donald Trump canceled a stop in Portland last week, citing logistics as he stumped in the western U.S. The first stop on Eric and Lara Trump’s visit is the orchard and farm, owned by the family of state Rep. Jeff Timberlake, a Republican and former supporter of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Timberlake joined the Trump camp following the businessman’s nomination at the Republican National Convention in June.
A number of other Republican state lawmakers were also on hand for the event Thursday, including Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason of Lisbon. He said that the 2nd Congressional District appeared to be on the cusp of voting for Trump shouldn’t be a shocker.
“This is no surprise. We elected Trump before he was Trump, right here,” Mason said, as he introduced LePage to a round of applause from the audience.
And that’s a great answer to the false allegations made about Trump’s attitude towards women:
“You just have to look at where that narrative is coming from,” Lara Trump said.
“It’s from the Clinton campaign, it’s from the mainstream media.
Look at Donald Trump’s track record, look at the women he’s employed over the years, thousands of women. He has more female executives in his company than male executives.”
Trump has a supportive and wonderful family.
He’s currently at an event with Howie Carr in Sandown NH. Taking questions from Mr. Carr and audience.
Come on, Maine! I saw far more Trump signs than Clinton signs this summer!
ME has a little problem, a woman named Susan Collins who is a determined backer of Mrs. Bill though I don’t recall if she specifically endorsed “the democracy” this time around.
Maine, other than the cities, is Trump country. Paul LePage is popular I guess.
I understand. She doesn’t deserve your beautiful state.
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