Donald Trump in Tucson: Live blog

Both presidential campaigns visited Tucson on Thursday, as multiple polls show Donald Trump and Kamala Harris neck-and-neck in Arizona.

Check back here all day for updates and photos from Tucsonans at Trump’s campaign rally at the Tucson Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave.

We will also have coverage of Doug Emhoff’s appearance today as he campaigns for his wife, Harris, at a private event downtown later in the day. Harris is campaigning in North Carolina today.

Trump is finished speaking

Yana Kunichoff | 3:32 p.m.

After about an hour of speaking, Trump encourages people to vote as his last statement. “Get everyone you know to vote,” he says. “If we have the big votes, they can’t rig it. We want to go too big to rig.”

“Arizona, thank you very much,” he says, leaving as YMCA begins playing over the speakers.

No overtime taxes

Yana Kunichoff | 3:25 p.m.

The core of Trump’s economic message during the speech is removing taxes on tips and social security. He says for the first time, he is saying publicly that he will end tax on overtime hours.

“When you are an overtime worker, your overtime hours will be tax free,” he promises. “Right here,” says someone from the crowd.

He also speaks to the seniors he said were the original core of his supporters, promising not to tax social security.

“The seniors have been destroyed by inflation,” he says. “So this is a whole new life for them.”

Under this plan, “everybody can afford groceries, a nice car,” he says.

Headwear

John Washington | 3:23 p.m.

At the Tucson Music Hall venue, 50 or so people linger outside the front doors, some of them watching live streams of the event on their phones.

Inside, there are lots of the expected red MAGA (Make America Great Again) hats, but also many variations, including camouflage MAGA, hot pink MAGA, black MAGA or white MAGA with Trump’s scribbly signature sewn in gold lettering on the brim. There are a few MAGA visors with orange wigs.

One particularly animated young man is wearing an American flag bandana headband.

A few people are wearing two or more hats, including one woman with a bejeweled American flag and denim hat underneath the standard red MAGA. There are also many dozens of cowboy hats and one Reagan-Bush hat.

“Largest deportation operation”

Yana Kunichoff | 3:01 p.m.

Fears of alleged crimes by immigrants are a large focus of Trump’s speech in Tucson Thursday.

Trump lists people he says have been sexually assaulted or physically harmed by immigrants he says were “flown in by Kamala.” Amid angry gasps, an audience member yells “kill them.”

“There has never been a border like this,” says Trump, saying that what is happening at America’s border is unique in history. He blames Biden and Harris and says “leadership is nonexistent.”

Trump receives a standing ovation and chants of USA from the crowd as he promises “the largest deportation operation.”

Housing affordability

Yana Kunichoff | 3:12 p.m.

Trump connects immigration to rent prices. Immigrants “brought in by Kamala” are disproportionately living in low income housing, he says.

“Look at the explosion of rent in Springfield Ohio,” Trump says. He says he will require all companies that take federal dollars to check citizenship of residents. “Taxpayers will not subsidize apartment rentals” for undocumented people, he says.

He also promises people who are undocumented will not be able to get mortgages. “We are going to bring back the American dream bigger, better and stronger than ever,” he promises. “Under my leadership we had the greatest economy in the history of the world.”

“Today, not a single major city in Arizona is considered affordable,” he says. To help Arizona families “afford the house of their dreams” he promises to slash inflation, bring interest rates down by “defeating inflation.”

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines “affordable housing” as housing on which the occupant is paying no more than 30 percent of gross income for housing costs, including utilities.

He also promises to build more houses, and cut the cost of building new houses by up to 30%. He asks people who have a mortgage at 2% to stand up — a few scattered people stand up. “Nobody is going to mess with that guy.,”

“We will open up new tracts of federal land for large scale housing development,” he promises, noting the large amount of federal land in Arizona.

“I will save American suburbs … the radical left wants to destroy the suburbs,” he says, joking about how suburban women love him. “Right next to your beautiful house they want a nice low income apartment building to be right next to it.”

Immigration numbers

John Washington | 2:43 p.m.

Trump repeated false claims about the number of immigrants who have entered the U.S. under the Biden administration. Customs and Border Protection has estimated 10 million encounters at the southern border during the Biden administration.

“People said I was angry at the debate, and yes I was angry,” Trump says. “Because you let 21 million people into the country. They’re destroying our country.”

The statement prompts the crowd to jump to their feet and begin chanting: “USA! USA!”

Trump doubles down on racist political rhetoric that immigrant and human rights advocates have decried for inciting violent hate crimes, such as attacks on Asian Americans and the deadly mass shooting in El Paso, Texas. He warns the crowd about people migrating to the U.S. and sexual assaulting “young American girls.”

“Border Kari Lake”

John Washington | 2:49 p.m.

Trump says Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Ruben Gallego is for open borders.

He then rechristens the Republican candidate, Kari Lake, who is sitting in the audience, as “Border Kari Lake.”

“She’s tough, she’s going to fix your border and she’ll work with me on doing it.”
“Thank you Border Kari,” he says repeatedly.

“In 2016, I won maybe because of the border. And I fixed it… I fixed the border, and I want to talk about it. I made that border so strong.”

Headlines and celebrity

Yana Kunichoff | 2:32 p.m.

Trump recites the list of national and international issues making headlines and says that, if he was president, those things would not be issues.

“We wouldn’t have had” the Russia-Ukraine war, Oct. 7, inflation, he lists.

Huge cheers from the crowd, including people standing up and chanting “USA, USA, USA.”

He muses on his popularity, and whether his longtime show “The Apprentice” was a deciding factor.

“A lot of people in Hollywood are blaming themselves,” he says. “We don’t like Trump but when they go to vote…” they vote for him, he says, saying they want low taxes, good schools and a strong military.

“Who’s Harris?”

John Washington | 2:25 p.m.

Trump repeatedly refers to Harris as “Comrade Kamala,” mispronouncing her first name. “Nobody knows who Harris is. Who’s Harris?”

He says everyone knows who Kamala is. “They’re the weird ones,” he says.

He now begins listing his endorsements, including the brother of “Barack Hussein Obama” and Tim Walz’s family.

Defund the police?

John Washington | 2:25 p.m.

Trump says Harris wants to defund the police and the crowd erupts in a hail of deep boos.

“Anyone who wants to defund the police, that’s cool, that’s down and dirty Left,” Trump said.

He claims that she’s been pushing to defund the police for at least ten years.

According to a Politifact Fact Check of this week’s debate , Harris was asked about defunding the police shortly after George Floyd’s murder, she called for “reimagining” public safety.

“Harris did not call for dissolving police departments; she said police were necessary. She told The New York Times in June 2020, ‘We’re not going to get rid of the police,'” according to Politifact.

Trump takes the stage

Yana Kunichoff | 2:22 p.m.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has walked out onto the stage.

He stands stage right for several minutes, looking around as people erupt in waves and screams.

“God bless the USA” is playing on the speakers.

He puts his hand up to his eyes to look through at the crowd.

Audience members are waving bejewelled American flag baseball caps, whistling and yelling.

As he comes to the podium, the crowd chants: “USA, USA, USA”

“Incredible being back in the great state of Arizona,” says Trump. “As everyone saw two nights ago we had a monumental victory over comrade Harris.”

The crowd erupts as he says, “the Trump campaign is putting forward a clear vision to very simply, make America great.”

He also gets big cheers for promising to bring back the automobile industry so that industry is not “shipped out to China.”

Trump says Harris wants to confiscate guns, and asks the crowd to raise their hand if they have a gun. A wave of hands jumps up, punctuated by excited cheers.

“Does anybody in the audience not have a gun?” asks Trump. One or two stray hands go up, some scattered laughter throughout the crowd. “If you want to keep your gun, vote for Trump.”

At Tuesday’s presidential debate Harris responded to Trump’s criticism about regulating guns.

“This business about taking everyone’s guns away. Tim Walz and I are both gun owners. We’re not taking anybody’s guns away. So stop with the continuous lying about this stuff.”

Harris’ running mate Walz served more than two decades in the Army National Guard , earning the rank of command sergeant major.

Kari Lake works the crowd

John Washington | 2:08 p.m.

People jumped to their feet and cheered when Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake came out to shake hands and work the crowd.

Lake responded by pumping her fist in the air and placing a hand on her heart.

The crowd energy is coming in waves with some chants of “we want Trump.”

The “Rocky” theme song hits and people are back on their feet, whistling and dancing.

He says Trump will win handily

John Washington | 1:51 p.m.

Danny De La Torre, 53, moved to Tucson less than a year ago. He was wearing a Latinos for Trump shirt and eagerly waiting for Trump to take the stage.

“I never would have thought I would be at a Trump rally, wearing a MAGA hat,” he said, adding that he voted for Biden in 2020 and Clinton in 2016, but then started doing some research.

“I was a full blood liberal,” he said, but started veering more conservative because of the Democrats’ stance on abortion and the border.

He said the final straw was what he called the “undemocratic switch from Biden to Kamala.”

De La Torre said he’s loved being at the rally so far: “it’s all pretty positive, just listening to people, being around people who believe what you believe.”

He said he thinks Trump will win handily in November: “It’s what’s best for the country.”

‘Sweet Home Alabama’ on speakers in packed hall

Yana Kunichoff and John Washington | 1:28 p.m.

With more than an hour to go until Donald Trump is set to take the stage at his Tucson rally, there were few empty seats remaining at the Tucson Music Hall.

During a 30 minute break in speakers, the event playlist has included “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd and “American Soldier” by Toby Keith. Attendees were dancing, including some enthusiastic YMCA moves.

At one point the crowd spontaneously started chanting “USA.”

Outside, lines of supporters wearing “Make America Great Again” hats and holding umbrellas against the sun weaved through the convention center complex. At some moments, small groups of people broke into a chant:  “Trump, Trump, Trump.”

The music hall has a seating capacity of 2,195, making it unclear whether all of the gathering supporters will make it into the hall.

There is heavy police, secret service, and private security posted at every entrance and exit.

Standing ovation

John Washington | 12:51 p.m.

A raucous standing ovation for Art Del Cueto, of the National Border Patrol Council, said the border has never been “worse than it is now” and it never had been better “than it was under Trump.”

He said he and Trump were on friendly terms and he’s been honored to visit the Oval Office, where Trump always asks about the agents on the lines. “My troops, my guys,” Del Cueto said Trump refers to border patrol agents.

He switched into Spanish at the end of his speech to say, “Este Noviembre tenemos que votar por el futuro de los Estados Unidos.”

Signs on stage signal economic message

Yana Kunichoff | 12:51 p.m.

Two signs at the front of the stage inside the Tucson Music Hall at the Trump rally lay out two policy proposals the campaign intends to center: “make housing affordable again” and “no tax on tips.”

The economic messages show part of the former president’s strategy to “end inflation and make America affordable again.” Trump’s platform also promises to protect Social Security and fight cuts to Medicare.

Arizona GOP Chair Gina Swoboda, speaking at the front of the rally, also led with an economic message, asking the crowd to think about the people whose lives were “destroyed by runaway inflation.”

Heat emergencies

John Washington | 12:15 p.m. (updated at 3:15 p.m.)

A Tucson Fire Department spokesperson said they received 24 calls for assistance as people waited outside the Tucson Music Hall for the rally scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.

Arizona Luminaria reporters saw at least eight heat-related emergencies.

A Tucson Police sergeant said there are three medic trucks at the site of the rally near the Tucson Convention Center to help people waiting out in the heat today as well as crews from Tucson Police Department and Tucson Fire Department.

Volunteers were passing out free water bottles.

It had reached 100 degrees by 12:15 p.m. and people have been in line since this morning.

First-time voter

John Washington | 12:38 p.m.

Adrian Graham, a 20-year old junior at the University of Arizona, majoring in urban and regional development, said Tucson has a lot of work to do to improve city planning.

“First the homeless situation, we’ve got to clean it up,” Graham said.

He said that they need to “secure the border, stop all the drugs, and that will help clear up the homeless people. Also go after China and all the precursor drugs they’re shipping out.”

He said he’s already committed to voting for Trump, in what will be his first time casting a ballot.

Despite his current commitment to Trump, “I’m always going to weigh each candidate. I’m just not confident in Kamala,” he said.

He blamed the media for not “listening to both sides” and favoring the Democrats.

On the border, he said, “not everyone who crosses the border is a criminal.” But he’s still worried about Americans losing jobs. “This country is built on immigration, but we have a capacity, and with immigration like it is right now, we’ll be close to capacity soon.”

“He goes off the rails,” 20-year-old Dominic Riolla, a business and marketing student at UA, said of Trump. “Maybe your feelings will get hurt, but it’s for the best of this country.”

“We need a change”

John Washington | 12:20 p.m.

Gary, 72 and Takeko, who declined to give her age, were slumped in a spot of shade after waiting for two hours in line.

“We need a change,” Gary said. “Kamala lies too much,” he added prompting a sharp elbow from Takeko.

Gary said he’s already decided to cast his vote for Trump, but wanted to come to see him for himself as well as to judge his demeanor.

“I get the feeling if we’re not careful Kamala is going to get us into another war. Maybe not a world war but a bad enough one,” he said.

“Trump said wonderful things during the debate,” Takeko said, adding, Harris didn’t say much. “She was hiding behind her words,” she said.

Morgan, 16 years old, has been handing out water since 10 a.m. He skipped school to attend “because I think Kamala is a DEI agent.” He said he thinks the government is behind Harris and wants to show his support for Trump. Photo by Noor Haghighi.

Still undecided

John Washington | 11:30 a.m.

Irene told Arizona Luminaria that she is still undecided about who to vote for.

“I was at the Harris rally last month. I wanted to see what it was all about.” She said she is leaning toward Trump and is at the rally now to “do her homework” and give each candidate a shot to explain their views.

“I was a Democrat all my life, but didn’t vote in last election. I didn’t like what I saw,” Irene said. She said she turned independent and is now registered as a Republican. In 2016 she cast her ballot for Hilary Clinton.

“Immigration, the border,” is the most important issue for her, she said. “I worked and paid taxes all my life, and now these people are coming in and getting everything paid for, for what?”

Irene said she retired last year after 15 years driving buses for SunTran.

Stay hydrated

John Washington | 11:30 a.m.

Carlos Pandis, 72, originally from Argentina, said he naturalized in 1970 and until 2008 consistently voted Democrat.

“I didn’t like Obama because I think he’s a Marxist and we in South America know how that goes.

He said he considers Kamala Harris “even leftier, more left than Obama.” That was why when he got an email to volunteer for Trump, he signed up.

“The water is all free,” he said. “Stay hydrated.”

Linda Ronstadt statement on Trump

Yana Kunichoff | 9:11 a.m.

Linda Ronstadt, the American artist whose name adorns the hall where Trump will speak Thursday, called his Tucson rally in the building “a sad fact.”

In a statement posted to Instagram Sept. 11, Ronstadt endorsed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and called herself a proud “cat lady.”

Her opposition to Trump, wrote Ronstadt, was not only that she believed he hated women, immigrants and people of color, but also that she would never forget the deep scars caused by his family separation policy.

“In Nogales and across the southern border, the Trump administration systemically ripped apart migrant families seeking asylum,” she wrote. “There is no forgiving or forgetting the heartbreak he caused.”

Health care

Dianna M. Náñez | 9:52 a.m.

A group of Tucson doctors are calling on Donald Trump to address questions about health care at the rally following his widely-panned statement during the presidential debate on having “concepts of a plan” to replace the Affordable Care Act.

“My patients and seniors across Arizona rely on Medicare, so we need to know, Mr. Trump, would you indeed cut funding for this lifeline?” asked Dr. Robert Beren in a press release Thursday in advance of Trump’s campaign event. Beren is a family medicine physician in Tucson.

The physicians are members of the Committee to Protect Health Care , an organization that includes thousands of U.S. doctors and advocates working to expand health care access, lower insurance and medical costs and protect reproductive rights. The doctors’ questions come after debate moderator Linsey Davis asked Trump about the Affordable Care Act.

“So tonight, nine years after you first started running,” Davis said, “do you have a plan, and can you tell us what it is?”

Trump bashed “Obamacare” and hesitated to offer specific alternatives. “If we can come up with a plan that’s going to cost our people, our population, less money and be better health care than Obamacare, then I would absolutely do it,” he said. “But until then I’d run it as good as it can be run.”

Davis repeated her question. “So just a yes or no,” she said. “You still do not have a plan?”

“I have concepts of a plan,” Trump said.

Two other Tucson physicians provided questions about protecting reproductive rights and the Affordable Healthcare Act, including concerns about protecting patients who can only afford coverage because of the marketplace and who only have insurance because the measure prevents providers from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions.

“Given that abortion is a standard and critical part of reproductive health care, can you definitively state whether or not you’d sign a national abortion ban?” asked Dr. Michelle Williams, an emergency physician in Tucson.

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