FAIRLAWN: The second son of real estate mogul Donald Trump stopped at a beer-and-bratwurst fundraiser Wednesday evening in Fairlawn to remind local Republicans that his father is more than their candidate for president — he’s every career politician’s worst nightmare.
Following an introduction by Summit GOP chairman Bryan Williams and the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance by county executive candidate Bill Roemer, Eric Trump took the microphone and immediately thanked state Rep. Kristina Roegner for a moving invocation.
“I’ve always been religious, but the amount of people who come up to me saying, ‘We pray for the country. We pray for your family. We pray that your father is going to lead this country away from these career politicians,’ ” Trump said. “I hear it all day, every day. And it’s an amazing message. It’s actually brought me even closer to religion.”
Eric Trump headlined the Summit County Republican Party’s annual Oktoberfest dinner at Presentation of Our Lord Church, speaking for eight minutes to 350 party loyalists, including longtime fans of Donald Trump and many others who instead backed Ohio Gov. John Kasich in the primary.
Attendees, who paid $15 a plate, enjoyed the younger Trump’s attack on politicians, his defense of religious freedom and core conservative values, and the polite way he shook hands and posed for pictures as he cut through the crowd on his way out.
“They’re such good kids,” said Pat King, a Cuyahoga Falls residents who has five grandchildren and pays close attention to a candidate’s family. “If you’re a good kid, you’re parents must have raised you right.”
Seven stops in Ohio
Eric Trump began his Ohio tour at 8:45 a.m. in Marion before making his way Northeast.
His seventh and final stop shortly before 6 p.m. was at the Fairlawn church, where he laid out all the problems his father promises to fix.
The crowd munched on hot dogs at tables covered with alternating red and blue table cloths littered with complimentary note pads and literature bearing the names of local GOP candidates, many in attendance.
“Religion in this country is under attack, and that’s going to change,” Eric Trump said, laying out all that has gone wrong in this country and drawing a hearty applause for lines like, “we’re going to start saying ‘Merry Christmas’ again in this country.”
“We’re going to continue to say the Pledge of Allegiance,” he continued, “… because the Pledge of Allegiance is under assault.”
The list of troubles went on.
“$20 trillion worth of debt … A broken education system … 95 million people out of work … One in three manufacturing jobs have disappeared since NAFTA … 70,000 factories have closed … Obamacare is a complete disaster.”
Veterans have been “so left behind” and the military is at its “lowest level of readiness” with fewer ships, troops and planes.
“We need someone who will fight for this country. No one has fought for this country for a very long time,” he said.
“Someone asked me to describe my father the other day. I said the Energizer Bunny. No joke,” he told the laughing crowd. “He’s a machine. He really is, I mean the guy doesn’t stop.”
Eric Trump said his father has always been driven. But it’s the state of the economy and the deterioration of conservative values that forced him to set aside his personal business, which he’s plugged several times on the campaign trail, and run for the White House.
“He didn’t have to do this. If the country was going in the right direction, if everything was great, if everything was beautiful, he wouldn’t be doing this,” Eric Trump said.
“[But] he couldn’t stand to see the direction that this country is going in and it’s horrible,” Trump said. “And our career politicians are doing nothing but enriching themselves at the behest of the American people and that’s a very, very sad thing for the people and this country.”
Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @ABJDoug .