Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump holds a rally with supporters in Kenansville, N.C., on Sept. 20. Since June 2015, when Donald J. Trump entered the presidential race, there has been a list of long unseen, unheard or imagined things that have, for the electorate, become real.
"The day of the greatest event in the history of Duplin County has finally arrived," N.C. Representative Jimmy Dixon told the waiting crowd before Trump's speech began. Those attending sported "Make America Great Again" hats and Trump T-shirts, along with other memorable memorabilia, including calf-high socks with Trump's face in front of the American flag.
Donald Trump is spending a good bit of time in this critical presidential swing state, but he's spending Tuesday evening far from cities like Charlotte and Raleigh where many candidates have courted moderate voters in recent years. Instead, he's zeroing in on this tiny, rural town of about 850 people to make his pitch to the disaffected, working-class white voters who have propelled his campaign.