Thousands of people flocked to Columbus to catch the Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump at his first rally in Ohio. Donald Trump used the opportunity to throw a few punches at Gov. John Kasich in front of his home crowd.
While rattling off recent poll numbers that show him with a commanding lead, Donald Trump mocked Gov. John Kasich and his declining numbers.
“So I’m 32[%], Kasich is -- oh -- should I mention it? 3[%].”
The business mogul and Ohio governor have been going at it for a few days now. Kasich’s super PAC announced that it will start targeting Trump with negative ads and Trump fired back with insulting comments about the governor on Twitter. Trump suggested to the crowd that Kasich's days in the race are numbered.
“So I heard he’s dropping out. Somehow when you’re the governor of a state -- gotta run that state," Trump added.
The crowd was loud and energetic during Trump’s rally, especially when he hammered home his messages on national security. He once again said the attacks in Paris would’ve been different if more citizens could carry concealed weapons and noted that he’d like limited surveillance on some Islamic mosques. And Trump also revived the debate over whether water boarding should be used as an interrogation tactic against terrorists.
“They chop off our young people’s heads and they put them on a stick. On the other side, they build these iron cages and they put 20 people in them and they drop them in the ocean for 15 minutes and pull them up 15 minutes later. Would I approve water boarding? You bet your ass I’d approve it, you bet your ass. In a heart beat,” said Trump.
It’s this type of enthusiasm and blunt talk, especially on immigration that solidified the support of Gary Deleon of Columbus.
“Being an American with Mexican and Spanish descent I find a wall necessary. I think they’ve allowed too many people in America that are stealing the American jobs from the American people so if Mr. Trump can build a wall more power to him,” Delone said.
Marvin Ward of South Bend, Indiana and Janet Applegate of New Albany both say they’re drawn to Trump because of his status as a political outsider.
“You hear the full-time politicians laughing at him saying ‘he’ll never make it -- he can’t do nothing -- he’s not like us’ -- well thank God he’s not like you,” said Ward.
“We’re tired of politicians to be real honest with you and he isn’t a politician and he’s saying all the right things for us," Applegate said.
There were just a few protests peppered into the crowd and less than 10 people overall were peacefully escorted out of the exhibition hall. The larger group of protesters were set up outside of the convention center.