http://www.wral.com/presidential-candidates-crisscross-nc-on-final-day- before-primary/15536839/ RALEIGH, N.C. — Republican front-runner Donald Trump and Democratic rivals Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton all planned Monday campaign stops in North Carolina to make their final pitches to voters ahead of Tuesday's primary.
Trump's rally at Lenoir-Rhyne University was delayed for two hours because fog prevented his plane from landing in Hickory. Instead, he had to land in Charlotte and drive to the rally, and he showed up shortly before noon with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a former opponent who now backs Trump's candidacy.
Trump hit his usual talking points promising to restore American jobs, crack down on immigration, build up U.S. armed forces and craft trade deals that benefit the country. He also engaged in the trash talking that has become a hallmark of his rallies, belittling Republican rivals Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio as "lyin' Ted" and "little Marco" and disparaging Clinton and Sanders as well.
"Clinton doesn't have the strength or the energy to be president," he said. "Bernie's going nowhere."
Last week, Trump visited Concord and Fayetteville in rallies that attracted thousands of attendees. During the rally in Fayetteville, a protester was assaulted as he was escorted from Crown Coliseum by police. A Linden man was later charged in the incident, and Cumberland County Sheriff's Office investigators said Monday that they are considering filing a charge of inciting a riot against Trump.
North Carolina law defines a riot as "a public disturbance involving an assemblage of three or more persons which by disorderly and violent conduct, or the imminent threat of disorderly and violent conduct, results in injury or damage to persons or property or creates a clear and present danger of injury or damage to persons or property." Inciting a riot is a misdemeanor unless the disturbance causes serious injury or more than $1,500 in property damage, when it becomes a felony.
The Fayetteville incident preceded an even uglier scene at a Trump rally in Chicago. He canceled an event planned for Saturday evening after supporters and protesters who packed a hall at the University of Illinois at Chicago clashed.
The protests weren't as vocal Monday, and Trump supporters quickly drowned out demonstrators with shouts of "USA" and "Trump."
Trump addressed the issue by denying suggestions that he incites or even condones violence at his rallies, calling the events "love fests."
"We're not angry people. We're good people," he said of his supporters. "We're just tired of a government that is run incompetently.
"This country is in serious, serious trouble," he said later during the rally. "Our people want to see something great happen."
Sanders is holding a rally at 4:30 p.m. at the PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte. The event comes between other campaign rallies Sanders has planned for Monday in Ohio and Missouri and follows his stop in Raleigh last Friday.
Clinton also plans to be in Charlotte for a 7:30 p.m. event at the Grady Cole Center. She was in Durham last Thursday.
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