Thanksgiving just came early for Donald Trump.
There were no dramatic protest scenes or arguments over phony statistics. Instead, Donald Trump presented the image of his smiling, well-groomed family on the stage at a Tuesday night rally in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Then he picked up right where his campaign had left off.
The roll-out of Trump’s extended family on the campaign trail comes at an opportune time: two days ahead of Thanksgiving and on the heels of several days of controversy — over Trump’s apparent support of a national registry of Muslim Americans, his tweeting of a chart that grossly overstates the percentage of white murder victims killed by blacks and the roughing-up of a protester at a Saturday campaign rally in Alabama.
“When campaigns are going through rough patches you always want to change the narrative and take the edge off,” said Republican strategist and South Carolina native Bruce Haynes. “No better way to do that than to bring your family on stage at a holiday time and try to elevate the conversation.”
At the outset of his rally, Trump announced, “I haven’t done this yet. I brought my family — OK? I brought my family.” Then he cajoled his wife, Melania, their son Baron, and his adult daughters Tiffany and Ivanka, onto the stage. Melania’s Slovenian parents also joined the mogul on stage, as did Ivanka’s husband, real estate developer Jared Kushner, after some additional cajoling.
“I love my family. I love my family,” said Trump, who invited his wife to the podium to address the crowd.
“Good evening. Isn’t he the best? He will be the best president ever,” said Melania, a native Slovenian, in a thick accent. “We love you,” she said, waving to the crowd, a red overcoat draped over her shoulders.
While Trump’s wife and children have submitted to coverage in People Magazine and a recent interview with Barbara Walters, it was the first time the extended Trump clan had come together on the campaign trail.
While Trump’s wife can be publicity-shy, he has long planned to use his adult children — who already perform public-facing roles as executives of the Trump Organization — as campaign surrogates in place of high-profile political figures, few of whom are likely to endorse him, according to a Trump insider.
“It’s free media for the family and the brands, so it serves the Trump interests,” explained the insider, adding, “They can draw more people that half the candidates can.”
The insider said that Trump’s family “humanizes” the bombastic candidate.
Indeed, on Tuesday, Trump credited his wife for making him cease his public questioning of Ben Carson’s account of a childhood attempt to stab another boy with a knife only to be thwarted by his belt buckle — an improbable scenario Trump has acted out on the trail. He told attendees, “My wife said that’s too nasty so I’m going to say tonight I like Carson, he’s a nice man.”
Trump’s two adult sons, Eric and Donald Jr., were not present in Myrtle Beach, and Ivanka Trump did not speak at the rally, but people close to the campaign expect her to be the family’s most visible surrogate. Already, she has presided over the opening of a field office in New Hampshire and made a cameo on an episode of "Saturday Night Live" hosted by her father earlier this month.
Several of Trump’s children stood by at a press conference in Trump Tower last month at which the candidate unveiled his new campaign book and Ivanka Trump confirmed plans for upcoming travel to Iowa.
After the family’s brief appearance on stage, Trump returned to his stump speech and turned to Idaho billionaire Frank VanderSloot, a finance co-chair of Mitt Romney’s presidential campaigns who recently endorsed Marco Rubio. Ahead of the rally, Trump tweeted, “What is Frank VanderSloot getting for agreeing to back Marco Rubio? Last victim was Mitt Romney — see how that turned out.”
“He’s doing this for reasons,” Trump said of VanderSloot at the rally. “I’m trying to figure out what is the deal because I don’t get it.” He added of Rubio, “I don’t get him. I think he’s probably nice.”
Trump also defended himself and his supporters in the face of recent controversies. Trump has drawn fire for claiming over the weekend that thousands of people celebrated the destruction of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001, in parts of New Jersey with large Arab populations. The claim has been debunked by fact-checkers, but on Tuesday, Trump cited a 2001 Washington Post article that referred to “a number of people who were allegedly seen celebrating the attacks and holding tailgate-style parties on rooftops” as evidence for his claim.
He also defended his support for monitoring and shutting down American mosques to combat terrorism, saying, “A lot of things are happening in there folks — a lot of things.”
Trump’s crowd was boisterous, with attendees exclaiming their love for the businessman, who told several that he loved them back.
“He’s a big hairy guy. I don’t know if I love him,” Trump said of one admirer in the crowd. He then told the man, “I do love you. I love your soul.”
At one point, Trump spotted a man in the crowd dressed as the candidate and invited him onto the stage. “I see this big, beautiful head of hair. Boy is that a fake head of hair,” said Trump, referring to the man’s oversized, blond Trump-styled wig. Gesturing to the man’s wife, the candidate declared, “She fantasizes that he’s the real Donald Trump.”
At another point, Trump said he could not understand why President Obama would not acknowledge and confront Islamic terrorists.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with Obama,” said Trump. “There’s something we don’t know about.
There’s something we don’t know about.”
“He’s a Muslim!” shouted someone in the crowd.
Trump said that he, on the other hand, would work hard to keep Americans safe. “I’m going to be the best protector.”
Citing a book published in 2000 in which he wrote that he was concerned about America’s vulnerability to terrorist attacks and referred specifically to Osama bin Laden, Trump said: “I’m, like, a guy with vision.”
Referring to bin Laden and the World Trade Center, he added, “If we took him out, we’d have two beautiful buildings standing there instead of one OK building.”
Trump said someone has told him, “You’re the first guy who really predicted terrorism” and explained that is “because I can feel it.”
