Donald Trump Jr. spoke at the Good Ole Boys and Gals Barbecue on Thursday where he supported the first family at the campaign event for Tate Reeves and other candidates in the area. Reeves, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, continued his campaign, emphasizing the importance of this year’s governor’s race.
Trump Jr. spoke for around 30 minutes and only mentioned Reeves twice, spending the first half of his speech talking about former Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. Trump Jr. said that the left has repeatedly attempted to “throw (him) in jail” while ignoring Hunter Biden.
“The guy taking money from foreign governments while Daddy’s the VP, who’s 50 years old, is off-limits, but my 12-year-old brother Barron isn’t?” Trump Jr. said. “I wasn’t off-limits for three years when they tried to put me in jail for taking an unsolicited phone call, but dealing with corrupt government, totally acceptable.”
Trump Jr. kissed Kimberly Guilfoyle — former Fox News anchor and his girlfriend — before he took the podium to address the crowd.
“She went in for the kiss, not me,” Trump Jr. said. “I know that it is Mississippi and I’m from New York, but I don’t want her to ‘#MeToo’ me, so I got a couple of witnesses. Right, princess?”
He also told a story from his childhood about a trip to Czechoslovakia that he said is from his new book “Triggered,” a name he chose to “piss off a couple of liberals.”
Trump Jr. said he was waiting in a customs line wearing a jacket embroidered with stars and stripes when someone wearing a “communist uniform with an AK-47” grabbed him and questioned him about if the stars on his jacket represented freedom.
In a recent poll by Mason Dixon Polling and Strategy, Reeves led the state with 46%, and held support from 66% of white voters. Forty-three percent of voters supported his opponent, Attorney General Jim Hood, and he also carried the African American vote with 80%. Of those polled, 46% were Republicans and 35% were Democrats.
Guilfoyle’s speech mostly focused on the “values of the left,” though she never mentioned Hood by name, simply referring to him as “the candidate that (Reeves is) running against.” She urged the crowd to vote for someone who would stand up for American values.
“They want to turn America into Venezuela,” Guilfoyle said. “We want to keep America the way it is under President Trump and the way it’s going to be under your governor, Tate Reeves.”
Johnny Morgan’s shop hosted the event. Morgan took the podium first and apologized to the event’s sponsors because “the communication” got out that the event was public. He said he reserved the right to throw out anyone who caused a disruption.
The event was sponsored, in part, by Oxford Mayor Robyn Tannehill.
After the publication of this story, Tannehill, one of over fifty sponsors, said that she did not know that Trump Jr. would attend the event when she agreed to sponsor it. After hearing that Trump Jr. would attend, she said that she no longer believed it would be a bipartisan event. Tannehill did not attend the event.
The majority of Reeves’ speech focused on the “other side.” The three campaign stances that Reeves discussed were his pro-life, pro-tax cuts and pro-religious freedom beliefs.
Reeves said that Trump Jr. was “someone who knows what it’s like to be attacked for political reasons.”
Reeves said that this election is important for the state and the country because Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi are the only three states that will elect new governors this year.
“There’s a reason that the liberals in New York and California are spending millions trying to buy our governor’s race,” Reeves said. “And that reason is that, it’s not that they care about Mississippi; they don’t care who the governor of Mississippi is. They’re trying to buy the governor’s race in Mississippi because they want to beat Donald J. Trump.”
The Mason Dixon Poll says that Trump’s influence could be the deciding factor in the governor’s race because most Mississippi voters support him despite the impeachment inquiry launched by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
Chase Baker of Brandon, who attended the event, said that he came out to support all of the Republican candidates, including Reeves, and that President Trump’s support of Reeves was an important factor in his decision.
“It meant a lot to me for sure,” Baker said. “I’m excited that he came out to support the state of Mississippi.”
Tom Womble of Batesville, who also attended the event, said that he did not support any candidates that were “far-left or far-right” and that he came to the event to listen to the political candidates share their ideas and campaign platforms.
“I’m one of the people that believe in listening to people that have ideas and issues that will address the needs of the state of Mississippi, and I haven’t been able to hear that,” Womble said. “I was hoping tonight that we would have some people who would come in here and do that. Instead, I’m listening to some idiot billionaire talking about his dad, and he’s not addressed anything that we came here to hear tonight.”
