President-elect Donald Trump stressed the need for unity in America during his speech at the first event of his “Thank You Tour.”
“To succeed, we must enlist the effort of all Americans,” he stated, adding that Washington, D.C. puts people into boxes. “They separate us by race, by age, by income, by geography, by place of birth. We spend too much time focusing on what divides us,” but now must focus on what unites people. “It’s America,” Trump declared.
The crowd that gathered at the historic event, which took place at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio, booed when Trump mentioned Ohio Gov. John Kasich by name.
“He said, ‘Congratulations, that was amazing,’” Trump recalled, telling the crowd that Kasich called him after he won the election. “We won this state by almost 10 points, which they say is totally unheard of.”
Kasich, one of Trump’s many GOP primary rivals, refused to support Trump as the GOP nominee.
“You went out and you pounded the pavement…and propelled to victory a grassroots movement the likes of which the world has never seen before,” Trump told the people of Ohio gathered at his event.
Trump referenced his deal with Carrier to keep roughly 1,000 jobs in Indiana rather than being outsourced to Mexico. “Thank you Carrier,” Trump said, adding he will do that all over the country.
On immigration, Trump said, “People coming into our country have to be people who have the potential to love us, not to hate us.”
“We condemn bigotry and prejudice in all of its forms,” he added, denouncing hatred.