Confident in beating Harris, Trump supporters gather in Charlotte

On a scorching afternoon in Charlotte, thousands of former President Donald Trump's supporters flocked to Bojangles Coliseum on Wednesday for his first rally since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. Lines wrapped around the east Charlotte arena as attendees waved flags, bought merchandise and sported hats for Trump.

Despite doors opening at 2 p.m. many supporters got in line early Wednesday morning. Trump was scheduled to address the crowd at around 6 pm.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police have advised the public to expect traffic delays around Bojangles Coliseum starting at noon and continuing through 10 p.m. Delays around Charlotte Douglas International Airport — and along the motorcade's undisclosed route to and from Bojangles Coliseum — are expected between 4 and 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday's rally is also the first time Trump has been in the Charlotte area since Memorial Day weekend, when he came to NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600. Polling averages have generally shown Trump with a comfortable 6-point lead in North Carolina, but that was before Biden dropped out.

Three days after Biden’s withdrawal upended the presidential race, Trump rally attendees mostly exuded confidence, saying they're sure they can beat the Democratic replacement: presumptive nominee Vice President Kamala Harris. They said Harris should be tied to the same broadly unpopular issues that weighed Biden down: immigration, the border and inflation.

Jeremy Bottoms drove in from Winston-Salem.

"I think people look at her as an attachment to the last three years of the Harris Biden agenda. Or excuse me, the Biden Harris agenda. It's no secret," he said.

Bottoms said he expects most Democrats will fall in line with leaders coalescing around Harris, but he also thinks Trump might pick up some disaffected voters who think Biden was pushed out unfairly.

"I think there's going to be a decent amount of people that maybe not like her, but because they're Democrats and will vote Democrat no matter what will still support her. But I still think that there's to be a good amount of people who might be turned off because of that process and how it went down," he said.

Waiting outside Bojangles Coliseum, Charlotte residents David and Felicia Sanchez said they don’t think Harris has a chance.

"I think they gave up already by putting her in," David Sanchez said.

"Yes, definitely," his wife agreed.

"They know it's a losing battle ... I think the snowball is rolling with Trump and everybody behind him," David Sanchez said.

Huntersville resident Eric David said he thinks Trump can beat Harris, but he’s wary of Republicans being overconfident.

"We can't go into the election thinking it's going to be a landslide," he said. "No matter what competition you're in, you should never underestimate what you're going up against."

Local Democrats held a counter-press conference Wednesday morning ahead of the Trump event, highlighting issues such as abortion rights and Project 2025, a conservative agenda for overhauling the federal government.

Democrats tried to shift the message to two of their priorities, highlighting abortion rights and the proposed conservative government overhaul agenda Project 2025.

Reproductive rights advocate Hadley Duvall said abortion restrictions make women less safe. Duvall, from Kentucky, was raped and impregnated by her stepfather when she was 12. She later miscarried.

"I remember standing in my bathroom as a 12-year-old little girl holding a pregnancy test and feeling deeply afraid. The first thing I remember hearing was 'You have options.' I was too young to really understand what was happening to me. But hearing that there were options was the only thing that I could hold on to," she said.

North Carolina Republicans banned abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, though there are exceptions for severe fetal abnormalities, the life of the mother, rape and incest.

Manolo Betancur, owner of Manolo’s Bakery in east Charlotte, said at a press conference that he worries Trump’s victory could imperil his shop.

"I'm worried if Donald Trump and J.D. Vance win this November, everything that I have built is at risk," he said.

Proposals like tariffs on all imported goods, immigration crackdowns and mass deportations could make it hard for a small business like his to operate, Betancur said.