Former President Donald Trump teased a large crowd of supporters at a rally at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity on Saturday evening about a potential bid for a return to the White House.

Citing polls from various states showing him well ahead of President Joe Biden among potential 2024 presidential candidates, Trump told those gathered, “I promise you, in a very, very short period of time, you’re going to be so happy.”

Trump came to Western Pennsylvania to stump for Republicans Doug Mastriano and Dr. Mehmet Oz, in their respective bids for Pennsylvania governor and U.S. senator, in Tuesday’s midterm elections.

“I want to have the focus tonight be on Dr. Oz and Doug Mastriano and the others that are running,” he said. ”If you want to stop the destruction of this country, you must vote Republican in a giant red wave. We’re going up and down the ballot like they’ve never seen before.”

Trump pointed out that the race between Oz and Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman could help determine the party majority in the Senate.

“This could be the vote that could make the difference between a country and not a country,” Trump said indicating that Oz would “vote to end Biden’s socialist spending spree.”

Trump called Fetterman an “extreme and unhinged left-wing politician.”

He praised Mastriano for opposing business lockdowns during the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic and defending “election integrity.”

Trump criticized the Biden administration, suggesting policies over the last two years set back achievements he has claimed — including border security and economic plenty.

He also indicated how he would address violent crime.

“Our streets are ruled by gangs and violent criminals,” he said. “We have to bring our law enforcement back in — and our military, if necessary.“

Earlier in the day, Oz and Mastriano also addressed the crowd that had formed lines at the entrances to the airport well before gates opened at 2 p.m.

“I’m not a politician, I’m a surgeon,” Oz said during his brief remarks. “What a surgeon does is tackle big problems by working with everybody, unifying everybody. We can do the same thing in our country.”

Oz said he supports an “all-of-the-above” energy policy, and he backs school choice.

“I believe we can have safer city streets and communities,” he said. “We can secure our border but allow legal immigration, like my dad had.”

Oz argued that Fetterman espouses government spending policies, beyond those of the Biden administration, that “would have put us trillions more in debt.”

He charged that the border policy supported by Fetterman would allow more dangerous drugs into the country.

Fetterman has said he supports “commonsense immigration reforms,” with investments aimed at keeping U.S. borders strong and preventing the flow of illegal drugs into the country while working “to ensure that our immigration system is humane.”

“On Day One, ‘woke’ is broke,” Mastriano told the Unity crowd of his intention if he wins Tuesday’s election for Pennsylvania governor over Democrat Josh Shapiro.

Mastriano said he would reverse Democratic policies emphasizing clean energy.

“On Day One, we’re going to drill and dig like never before,” he said.

Mastriano criticized Shapiro, the state’s attorney general, for not being tough enough on crime, noting Pennsylvania has a high rate of fentanyl-related deaths.

The federal Drug Enforcement Agency reported the total weight of its analyzed fentanyl seizures in Pennsylvania in pill or tablet form was five times higher in 2020 than in 2019.

Shapiro has acknowledged fentanyl has contributed to an increase in fatal drug overdoses in the state, which rose to 15 per day in 2021.

But Shapiro also said his office, since 2017, has arrested more than 8,100 drug dealers and traffickers, taking about 3.2 million doses of heroin and 5.65 million doses of fentanyl off Pennsylvania’s streets.

Inflation concerns

Inflation, gun rights and abortion were among issues on the minds of Trump supporters attending Saturday’s rally.

Dan and Jenn Mull of Torrance voiced economic concerns as they arrived with their daughter, Danielle, 14.

“Nobody has any money,” Dan Mull said. “I notice, when I go to the grocery store, other people are picking stuff up and putting it right back. They’re not buying it.”

Jenn Mull works as a nurse’s aide.

“That used to be a good-paying job,” she said. “Now people at Walmart are making as much as I am, and I’m working twice as hard. It’s ridiculous.”

Friend Ron Harshman of Vandergrift is feeling the pinch at the gas pump. He is concerned that the United States is depleting its strategic oil reserve and would like to see it be in the position to export oil.

“Gas prices are back up to $4, and they’re going to go to $5,” he said. “Something has got to get us back to the country we used to be.”

Dan Mull and Harshman both said Fetterman’s speech challenges, following a stroke he suffered in May, should disqualify him from serving.

Harshman feels Oz is the better choice.

Harshman is worried that Mastriano, who is running behind in the polls compared to Shapiro, may not be able to pull out a win on Election Day.

“I don’t know if he can catch Shapiro,” said Harshman. “We’ll see. This rally is going to fire me up.”

Kaela McCann of Patton, Cambria County, who described herself as pro-life, said she supports Mastriano, even though their views on abortion are different.

McCann said she would allow abortion in cases involving rape, incest or a threat to the mother’s life, while Mastriano has said he would allow no such exceptions.

Still, McCann said, “To kill an innocent child is not OK. I’m a Christian, and that is not something that should be done.”

McCann opposes the election bids of Fetterman and Shapiro, and said she is concerned about voter fraud.

“We need to have paper ballots,” she said.

Marine veteran Wayne Farabaugh of Altoona isn’t completely sold on Oz as a Senate candidate but prefers him to Fetterman.

“It’s not that I agree with everything that Oz does,” Farabaugh said, “but I agree more with what Oz does than what Fetterman does. Fetterman is just too far out there.”

Fetterman has espoused universal background checks and “red flag” laws to help regulate gun purchases. Farabaugh, who skipped a hunting trip to attend Saturday’s rally, said gun rights are “not something I’m willing to give up.”

As he looked forward to the rally, Farabaugh said, “I could care less about bashing from either (political) party. I want to hear what they could possibly do for us as citizens of Pennsylvania.”

Tomalee Watson of Meyersdale checked out the three rows of Trump-themed vendors with her great-grandson, Noah Watson, 6, before the rally.

She has a list of things she’d like to see Republicans deliver if they gain seats on Capitol Hill.

“I want the gas prices down, I want the food prices down. And I want my great-grandchildren all to have freedom of speech and know what’s right and what’s wrong,” she said.

In the latest poll from Marist College, Shapiro is leading Mastriano by 54 % to 39% in the race for Pennsylvania governor.

For the first time, in a survey conducted by Emerson College Polling and The Hill, Oz has surpassed Fetterman. That poll, conducted since the sole debate between the candidates, shows Oz leading Fetterman 48% to 46% among very likely voters.

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