Trump pledges 'America's new golden age' as he rallies in PA's post-industrial third-largest city

“A very special hello to Allentown,” former President Trump began his remarks at the PPL Center at the heart of Pennsylvania’s third-largest city on Tuesday.

Trump’s remarks followed several speeches by local candidates and notably Shadow Sen. Zoraida Buxo, R-P.R., who threw her support behind the GOP nominee after a comic at his Madison Square Garden rally caused controversy.

“Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” Trump asked the crowd at the arena, which is home to the Flyers affiliate Lehigh Valley Phantoms and has hosted performers such as Neil Diamond.

Trump spoke at length about the economy, a perennial issue since the time Billy Joel penned his famous anthem about the area’s economic challenges in 1982.

He said the Democrats including Vice President Harris have helped “kill 50,000 manufacturing jobs this year alone,” and pledged to “end inflation.”

“Kamala has embarrassed us… she doesn’t have what it takes,” Trump said as he went on to promise “America’s new golden age.”

Trump later said Democrats are showing their desperation at the current state of the election, pointing to former First Lady Michelle Obama’s several minutes of criticism during a recent address.

“Michelle Obama was very nasty to me… I’ve gone out of my way to be nice to Michelle – never said a bad thing about her when people didn’t like her so much, but she hit me the other day because they’re desperate.”

Obama had condemned Trump’s “lies and ignorance,” and claimed his “failures had real costs.”

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However, most of Trump’s remarks focused around his plan for his second nonconsecutive term, including securing the border and invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deal with the illegal immigrant deluge.

Trump was preceded by Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., whose district stands about 20 miles northwest of the rally site.

Meuser said Trump was right when he attempted to correct ABC News anchor David Muir during a recent debate, and took a shot at Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

“A quick word on this Tim Walz character – one thing you can say about him: He’s much better at loading tampons into boys bathrooms than he is at loading a shotgun,” he said.

The Republican who hopes to represent the Allentown area in Congress, State Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Macungie, also spoke, saying unseating incumbent Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., would help bring about the change Trump spoke of.

“We need leaders like Donald Trump who will make peace around the world,” Mackenzie said.

State Sen. Jarrett Coleman, R-Allentown, an airline pilot by trade who rose to local political prominence as a member of the Parkland School Board during the height of national controversies, used his remarks to criticize repeated claims that Republicans are the “extreme” party.

“Let’s talk about who’s really extreme here,” Coleman said.

He pointed outside to the historic Soldiers & Sailors Monument in the middle the 7th & Hamilton Street intersection, and said it was just several months ago that “Democrats, including Allentown Democrats, were calling to defend the police: that’s extreme.”

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The city of Allentown, PA – the Commonwealth’s third largest – is seen from the Tilghman Street Bridge (Charles Creitz)

“Kamala Harris bailing out rioters instead of supporting law enforcement: that’s extreme. Allowing abortion up until the moment of birth – thats extreme. Banning gas stoves and gas lawnmowers – folks, that’s extreme.”

“And yet those positions are the highlight reel from the party of Kamala Harris – We’re at a tipping point, and that’s why we’re all here today.”

“Fire the failure and hire the fighter,” Coleman said.

However, not all high-profile Allentonians were praising Trump this week. On the latest episode of C-Span’s Washington Journal, the city’s former congressman, Republican Charlie Dent, spoke about how he will vote for Harris this year.

Dent, who frequently traded criticisms with Trump while in office, said he had police disagreements with Harris, but that “sometimes, elections aren’t about right or left in terms of policy. Sometimes, it’s about right or wrong.”

Blast furnaces and stacks from the former Bethlehem Steel HQ stand silently along the Lehigh River on the Christmas City’s South Side. The area now hosts an entertainment venue, museum, PBS affiliate, and casino. (Charles Creitz)

“I’m going to choose honorable over dishonorable,” he said.

“[W]e’ve all seen the narcissism, the ADD, the impulse control issues, the temper, a lack of interest in policy,” Dent added, according to Mediaite.

While the city itself is heavily Democratic, the suburbs are a mix of purple and red, leading to its position in many recent elections as the site of hard-fought narrowly-won victories for either side.

Trump won neighboring Northampton County in 2016, while President Biden took it back in 2020. Lehigh County, where Allentown is based, skews Democratic in county-wide and larger contests, but hosts a reliably red northern tier along Blue Mountain and southern tier, where former Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., hails from.