archived recording (frank sinatra) (SINGING “MY WAY“) — a life that’s full. I traveled each and every highway, and more — maggie haberman I’m Maggie Haberman, and I am inside the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, where President Trump is set to begin his campaign kickoff rally. The rally is expected to start a bit under an hour now. And the crowd has been going wild here for the last several hours. There have been speeches interspersed with music. There have been video clips playing on the Jumbotron. It’s really important to remember how crucial these rallies were to President Trump in 2016, when he was a candidate fighting as an underdog on behalf of other underdogs. And it’s going to be interesting to see how these rallies play out in 2020 when he is no longer the underdog, he is the president. archived recording (frank sinatra) (SINGING “MY WAY“) — each careful step along the byway. More, much more than this, I did it — [music]

michael barbaro

From The New York Times, I’m Michael Barbaro. This is “The Daily.” Today: The president kicks off his re-election campaign with a rally. My colleague Maggie Haberman was in Orlando. It’s Wednesday, June 19.

maggie haberman

Hi.

michael barbaro

Hey, it’s Michael.

maggie haberman

Hi.

michael barbaro

Where are you, exactly?

maggie haberman

Now I’m stepping outside to talk to you. It’s hot.

michael barbaro

So I want to talk about this rally that you’re attending tonight. These Trump rallies have become pretty familiar at this point. But I remember, in 2016, how completely new and different they felt from anything we had seen before.

maggie haberman

It became clear at some point in the summer of 2015 that we were seeing something that we had not seen in American politics.

archived recording (donald trump) It’s great to be at Trump Tower. It’s great to be in a wonderful city, New York.

maggie haberman

When Donald Trump first came down the famous escalator, as he puts it, and he was supposed to deliver his kickoff speech, he tore up the speech he had, and he just riffed.

archived recording (donald trump) When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us.

maggie haberman

And that was the one where he talked about Mexicans. And basically every rally address, from there, was an unscripted performance.

archived recording (donald trump) So exciting. Do you notice what’s missing tonight? Teleprompters — no teleprompters. [cheering] archived recording (donald trump) We don’t want teleprompters.

maggie haberman

You were seeing rallies that were massive. And he would do performance art from the stage. When he was attacked by Lindsey Graham, the senator from South Carolina who is now his close ally but was, at the time, one of his rivals in the primary, he read Lindsey Graham’s cell phone number aloud from a rally stage.

archived recording (donald trump) I wrote the number down. I don’t know if it’s the right number. Let’s try it. 202 — [audience laughing] archived recording (donald trump) — 228-0292. I don’t know, maybe it’s — you know, it’s three, four years ago, so maybe it’s an old number.

michael barbaro

So that people would call.

maggie haberman

So that people would call him and protest — exactly.

michael barbaro

Right.

maggie haberman

It was just something fundamentally new.

michael barbaro

There was this interesting rally I remember where the president started to talk about his rivals and how polite they were.

archived recording (donald trump) And they go to Jeb — what do you think of Marco Rubio? He’s my dear, dear friend. He’s wonderful. He’s a wonderful person. I’m so happy that he’s running. Give me a break.

michael barbaro

And the message he was delivering was, what a joke, that’s not how real people talk, I’m so tired of all this political correctness crap.

archived recording (donald trump) Then they go to Marco. What do you think of Jeb Bush? Oh, he’s great, he’s brought me along, he’s — they hate each other, but they can’t say it. They hate each other.

michael barbaro

And it felt like somebody tearing the top off of something and saying, who are we kidding?

archived recording (donald trump) But I am so tired of this politically correct crap. [cheering]

maggie haberman

Yeah, and people loved it because it felt real to them. They thought that it wasn’t all of the political niceties that the people who they felt had gotten the country into a bad place in the first place would use. It was something that they could see themselves saying.

michael barbaro

Right, and in other words, that niceness becomes a metaphor for an agenda. He’s saying, all that political correctness was actually another way that people were just deceiving you.

archived recording (donald trump) But today, everybody’s politically correct. Our country’s going to hell with being politically correct — going to hell. [cheering]

maggie haberman

The president managed to connect the niceties and politesse of previous politicians to almost everyone else in the field, whether it was President Obama, as the person who was leaving office —

archived recording (donald trump) The insurance companies, they backed Obama, they’re making a fortune. I couldn’t care less about the insurance companies, O.K.?

maggie haberman

— Hillary Clinton, who President Obama supported —

archived recording (donald trump) Hillary Clinton is an insider, fighting for her donors and her insiders, mostly fighting for herself.

maggie haberman

— Jeb Bush, who a lot of the establishment was backing in the Republican primary, Marco Rubio, a senator from Florida.

archived recording (donald trump) When you see an ad — every time you see an ad from Rubio, or Bush, or Hillary, remember that money’s coming from special interests and lobbyists.

maggie haberman

You went down the list, and the president was able to attach them all to some version of people who were standing in your way, voter, people who don’t want you to succeed, and people who have set up this system that doesn’t work.

archived recording (donald trump) And that’s why you have a case where I go in and win with a vote, and these guys go and they buy delegates, they buy them dinners, they send them to hotels. The whole thing is a sham.

maggie haberman

Remember, the rallies are where Donald Trump started referring to the rigged system.

archived recording (donald trump) The economy is rigged, the banking system is rigged, there’s a lot of things that are rigged in this world of ours.

maggie haberman

He was telling them, you are an underdog, I am an underdog. You have been mistreated by life, by a system that’s unfair, by a system that’s rigged, as he would put it. He said, I feel your anger, and I’m angry for you, and I’ll be angry with you, and it’s O.K. to be angry.

archived recording (donald trump) But you’re tired, and you’re sick of watching the stupidity and the thefts. And you’re watching the world take our country away from us. And that’s exactly what’s happening — exactly.

maggie haberman

And I am the one who is fighting for you, and I will continue fighting for you.

archived recording (donald trump) And that’s why a lot of you haven’t had an effective wage increase in 20 years, folks. And we’re going to change it. We’re going to change it.

maggie haberman

One of the things that Donald Trump understood about voters in this country better than almost anybody is that there is a cultural divide as much as there is an economic divide.

archived recording (donald trump) They call them the elite. Oh really, they’re elite? Do you think they have a better plane than I do? These are elite people. These are elite. They call them elite. That means that we’re not elite. That means that I’m not elite. I don’t know, I don’t think anybody has better whatever.

maggie haberman

They felt like they had, up there, somebody who the elites didn’t take seriously, who the elites were mocking and judging, just like they felt the elites mocked and judged them.

archived recording (donald trump) You know what they talk about, they talk about the elite — the elite. Do you ever see the elite? They’re not elite. [audience booing] archived recording (donald trump) You’re the elite. You are the elite. [audience cheering]

[music]

michael barbaro

So Maggie, Donald Trump has now been president for two and a half years, and he’s kicking off his re-election campaign with a rally. And I wonder what you’re thinking about as you wait for this 2020 kickoff rally to start.

maggie haberman

I’m waiting to see whether there’s going to be anything new. I’ve spoken to a lot of voters who are here, a lot of his supporters who are here, who say they want to hear what he’s going to do with the second term. But I think that we are very likely to hear a version of this rally that we have seen many, many times before. He’s still going to say he’s the underdog. And he’s going to say that these unseen, shadowy forces are trying to take your fighter away from you. I’m under all of these threats from all of these people — the Democrats in the House, these other candidates who are running for president, the media. He’s going to go through this litany of people who he’s going to say are trying to undermine him when all he’s trying to do is fight for you, his supporters standing in front of him. In that sense, he is going to basically act as if time stands still and it’s still 2016.

michael barbaro

So it’s 3:32, and you’re going to go into a really loud venue where it’s going to be impossible to hear you, and you’re not going to hear anything —

maggie haberman

That’s true.

michael barbaro

— for probably the rest your life. And then when you get out, and it’s over, we’re going to call you back, and check in, and see what actually happened.

maggie haberman

Sounds good.

michael barbaro

O.K.

maggie haberman

Thanks, guys. Bye-bye.

michael barbaro

Bye.

annie karni Do you have five minutes to — speaker You’re what? annie karni I’m with The New York Times. My name is Annie. Do you have five minutes to be interviewed? speaker 1 Um — speaker 2 For The New York Times? annie karni It’s very basic questions. maggie haberman What is your name? glen ridgeway Glen Ridgeway. terri castro My name is Terri Castro. rob ward My name is Rob Ward. anthony Anthony. maggie haberman Last name? anthony McCannon. speaker Chrissy. annie karni Chrissy, and your last name? speaker Cabala. annie karni I hate to ask you this, but how old are you? speaker 1 I’m 72. speaker 2 43. speaker 3 I’m 26. speaker 4 28. speaker 5 79 and 24/12. maggie haberman You look terrific. speaker 81. maggie haberman And what do you do for a living? Are you retired? speaker 1 Real estate. speaker 2 I’m a chef. speaker 3 Well, my husband was retired military, and then we opened — had a business for about 25 years. And we’re retired. maggie haberman What brought you here today, and what brought you to the rally? What motivated you? speaker We’ve been Trump supporters since he came down the escalator. maggie haberman Really? speaker 1 Yes. speaker 2 I was not a supporter. maggie haberman You weren’t? speaker No, I was actually a delegate for Ted Cruz. maggie haberman Oh, wow. speaker Because I’m a conservative, but he has earned my support. maggie haberman What got you there? speaker Well, appointing conservative judges, and then seeing him follow through with his campaign promises. maggie haberman Are you happy with how the last four years have gone? speaker I’m ecstatic with the last two years — two and a half years. maggie haberman O.K., what in particular are you ecstatic about? speaker I’m ecstatic because the promises — he speaks for the blue-collar and the middle-class America. And he says all the things that we’ve been wanting to say, doing the things that we saw needed to be done, and he’s kept his promises. And if Congress would get their act together, he could do a lot more. maggie haberman Are you happy with how the last four years have gone? speaker I am. I could have been happier. maggie haberman What would have made you happier? speaker Immigration stopped — immigrants out, build a wall. And other than that, I’m satisfied. maggie haberman How has the Mueller investigation influenced you at all — has it? speaker It only reinforced what I thought it was in the first place. maggie haberman Really? How so? speaker 1 Well, it took them $25, $30 million to find out nothing. And once you pack that — that investigative force with those kinds of people, what do you expect to get? speaker 2 It seems like it’s been a big nothingburger, according to — you know, use Hillary Clinton’s words. maggie haberman What do you notice as the difference between Donald Trump 2016 and today? speaker 1 I’ve come to really appreciate him and to value what he’s done for this country, whereas when he was first running, I thought everything he said was just to get elected. And I didn’t support him because I didn’t believe he was truthful when — I had heard him say things about Obama’s — you know, the gun reform after Sandy Hook. And now he’s pro-Second Amendment. And then his abortion stance — before, he said, look, I’m from New York. If I had grown up in Idaho, maybe it would be different. I see he’s very — he’s appointing pro-life judges and doing the things that I support. speaker 2 I think Donald Trump today is more confident because he sees what needs to be done. Before, it was more or less theory — I see this, this and this that maybe we could do. Now he knows what needs to be done. And he’s a strong leader. maggie haberman How does that show itself, as best as you can tell? speaker I think it shows itself in his dealings with Mexico, with China, his negotiations with North Korea, and now this crisis with Iran, I think he’s going to — everything he does, he does with the best interest of America. maggie haberman What’s the difference that you see between Donald Trump in 2016 and today? speaker It’s about the same — a little more mature, same attitude, same approach. Nothing changed. maggie haberman In your mind — you talked about him sort of as an underdog last time. Do you still think he’s an underdog? speaker 1 No, he’s not. No. speaker 2 No. maggie haberman He’s not? speaker 1 But you don’t have to say that. speaker 2 What? No, absolutely not. No way in hell is he an underdog. maggie haberman But he kind of talks about himself like an underdog. speaker 1 Well, that may be the way he looks at it. I mean, you never want to say, hey, I’m the frontrunner. Can you imagine what the press would make of that? speaker 2 — and so on and so forth. I think it’s going to be one hell — one hell of a rally. I think he’s going to get the troops fired all up.

michael barbaro

Hey.

maggie haberman

Hi.

michael barbaro

You must be exhausted.

maggie haberman

I am. I supposed you must be, too.

michael barbaro

It’s all relative. But are you still in the venue, the arena?

maggie haberman

I am.

michael barbaro

How many people are actually left?

maggie haberman

Not very many. Actually, that’s not true. There’s about 40 or 50 reporters left.

michael barbaro

But the crowd has emptied out.

maggie haberman

The crowd is gone. The crowd left right away.

michael barbaro

How many people were there, do you think?

maggie haberman

It was roughly 20,000 people. But some started streaming out before it ended.

[crowd cheering] archived recording (melania trump) Thank you all again for being here tonight. And now, I want to introduce my husband, the president of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

michael barbaro

So Maggie, what actually happens?

maggie haberman

So at around 8:15, Donald Trump comes on stage, and it’s very much as we predicted.

archived recording (donald trump) Oh, we had such luck in Orlando. We love being in Orlando. Thank you. Thank you, Orlando. What a turnout.

maggie haberman

It is a speech filled, for the first 30 minutes or so, with his list of grievances, and his anger at the quote, unquote, “fake news media” that he mentioned something like four times in the first five minutes.

archived recording (donald trump) You know, I said, this is a very big arena for a Tuesday night. I said, you know, if we have about three or four empty seats, the fake news will say, headlines, “He Didn’t Fill Up the Arena.” [audience booing]

maggie haberman

He talked about the Mueller report.

archived recording (donald trump) We went through the greatest witch hunt in political history.

maggie haberman

He talked about the Democrats.

archived recording (donald trump) They went after my family, my business, my finances, my employees, almost everyone that I’ve ever known or worked with. But they are really going after you. That’s what it’s all about. It’s not about us, it’s about you. They tried to erase your vote, erase your legacy of the greatest campaign and the greatest election, probably, in the history of our country. [audience cheering] And they wanted to deny you the future that you demanded and the future that America deserves, and that now America is getting.

maggie haberman

And then, about 30 minutes in, he clearly could tell that the crowd’s energy was sagging. And it reminded me of something that he told The Times’s editorial board in January of 2016, when he said that when he could see the crowd’s energy was kind of getting low, he would say, “and we’re going to build the wall.” And so there was this moment in the rally —

archived recording (donald trump) You know, we have a big decision to make. You know what I’m going to say. We have to come up with a theme for the new campaign, right?

maggie haberman

Where he starts poll-testing the crowd as to what slogan they thought he should use.

archived recording (donald trump) Is it going to be “Make America Great Again,” which is probably and possibly the greatest theme in the history of politics, I think — “Make America Great Again,” “MAGA” country, right?

maggie haberman

“Make America Great Again“?

archived recording (donald trump) But you know, there’s a new one that really works, and that’s called “Keep America Great,” right? [audience cheering] archived recording (donald trump) “Keep America Great.”

maggie haberman

Or “Keep America Great“?

archived recording (donald trump) Let me just hear, by your cheers, what you like. So —

maggie haberman

And that got them engaged again.

[audience cheering]

maggie haberman

And for the second half, he changed.

archived recording (donald trump) Together, we’re breaking the most sacred rule in Washington politics. We are keeping our promises to the American people.

maggie haberman

And he did start talking about the future.

archived recording (donald trump) Because my only special interest is you. I don’t have a special interest, I don’t care. I don’t care.

maggie haberman

And he did start talking about his accomplishments.

archived recording (donald trump) I think about only one thing — how the American people are going to win, win, win today.

maggie haberman

And he did start talking about things he believes he has done as president. He talked about the economy.

archived recording (donald trump) We have created six million new jobs. Nobody thought that would be possible.

maggie haberman

He talked about the judicial nominees.

archived recording (donald trump) I will soon have appointed my 145th judge.

maggie haberman

And it went on like that for a good 40 minutes or so.

archived recording (donald trump) For the first time in half a century, we’ve reduced the price of prescription drugs, and our amazing veterans are no longer left to languish and die on endless waiting lists, standing on line, waiting for a doctor. [audience cheering] archived recording (donald trump) We passed “V.A. Choice.”

michael barbaro

So Maggie, in the end, do you think that the president managed to pull off this tricky balance between being the underdog and this voice of grievance, and being the establishment, being the president?

maggie haberman

I think he did. I think he had this delicate line to walk between being the outsider and being the insider. And I think, based on the crowd’s reaction, that he was successful at it. He’s in charge of a third of the system, and yet he got huge applause when he said the system is rigged. He wrapped all of this sense of grievance, and people are coming for me, and people are trying to take away what I’ve done, in a sense of populism, and telling the people in the audience that this was really about that. He told the crowd that when they’re coming for me, they’re trying to undo your vote. And he made it less about himself and more about his voters. And that was, I think, how he bridged that divide between being the insider who is overseeing the system but still trying to be the outsider, the insurgent, who these forces want to keep at bay.

michael barbaro

So his message is, they’re trying to take it all away from you, even though it looks like they’re trying to take it away from me.

maggie haberman

Exactly. They’re coming at me as a way to harm you, because they’ve been disdainful of your voice, or they’ve been dismissive of what you want, and we have had these hard-fought gains, and it could all disappear if you don’t guard it by re-electing me.

michael barbaro

Maggie, thank you very much.

maggie haberman

Michael, thank you.

speaker Because he’s doing what he promised. maggie haberman Are you happy with how the last two and a half years have gone? speaker So far, yes, absolutely. maggie haberman What about it are you happy with? speaker I’m happy that the economy is better, certainly happy with that. I wish that we didn’t have such divisiveness in politics. If I was king and I could change that, I would. I have a lot of friends that are Democrats. maggie haberman What — in your mind, is Donald Trump still the underdog? He talked a lot tonight about being the underdog. Is he still? speaker Well, if you read the polls, he certainly is. But I think it’s — like everybody says, it’s premature, and we’ll see. maggie haberman What’s the difference you see between Donald Trump in 2016 and today? speaker He’s now president. maggie haberman Thank you. speaker No one thought he was going to be, right?

michael barbaro