Trump speaks at Opportunity Now Summit in Charlotte, North Carolina
President Trump spoke at an Opportunity Now Summit in Charlotte, North Carolina, Friday, capping off the week the Senate acquitted him with a speech on how great the economy is doing under his watch. The president's speech sometimes resembled a campaign rally as much as an official taxpayer-funded event.
Mr. Trump said he'll continue his campaign rallies even if he wins reelection this year.
"I love the state of Iowa, we just did very well in Iowa by the way we set a record. But nobody talks about that. What they do talk about is the fact that Democrats don't know what the hell they're doing," Mr. Trump said, referencing the disastrous Iowa caucuses.
The president took some of his favorite lines from the campaign trail, telling the crowd to "look at all the fake news back there."
The summit is featuring workshops on economic development in low-income areas, inmate re-entry into society, the future of historically black colleges and universities, and infrastructure, CBS affiliate WBTV reports. It is in partnership with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which is led by Secretary Ben Carson. Mr. Trump spoke of his push for criminal justice reform, and improving African-American unemployment.
"Nearly 35 million people across the nation live in areas marked as an Opportunity Zone," Carson said Friday in a tweet. "Today, this Administration is reinforcing its commitment to revitalize neighborhoods by bringing economic freedom to the forgotten men and women of this country."
Mr. Trump's speech comes after his Senate acquittal, which he mentioned in his North Carolina speech, giving a nod to the members of Congress and the Senate who voted in his favor.
The president celebrated his acquittal with a vibrant speech on Thursday.
"We went through hell unfairly, did nothing wrong," the president told his exuberant crowd, at one point calling the Russia investigation "bullsh*t." He continued to insist his conduct regarding Ukraine was "very good," although several Republican senators have explicitly said what the president did was inappropriate or wrong.
"We've been going through this now over three years. it was evil. It was corrupt," Mr. Trump said. "It was dirty cops. It was leakers and liars. And this should never ever happen to another president."