JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Donald Trump took the stage at the Veterans Memorial Arena Wednesday night telling an estimated 16,000 supporters that he will win the general election in November and become president.
Trump makes those claims the day he was forced to respond to a new poll showing him 10 points behind Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Trump hit high notes with the audience by saying, “We will build that wall, believe me.”
He also landed on a common theme -- the so-called “liberal, biased media – they’re horrible.”
UNCUT: Trump's speech in Jacksonville | Kent Justice's one-on-one interview with Trump
Supporters had to wait about 45 minutes longer than they expected, with Trump arriving later than planned from an afternoon rally in Daytona Beach. Despite the delays, supporters interrupted his one-hour speech repeatedly with applause and cheers.
With Mayor Lenny Curry serving as emcee for the event, a long list of dignitaries paved the way with stump speeches. When Trump finally took the stage, he went right to a story about a veteran giving him a Purple Heart and explained why he felt so honored.
He said he’ll demand respect for police officers and law enforcement, and called for better leadership in national government.
In a brief interview, Trump told News4Jax about his specific message to Jacksonville and why he campaigned here.
“It’s about strong borders,” Trump said. “It’s about bringing our jobs back. Jobs are being decimated. We’re losing our companies, we’re losing our jobs. People are being fired all over the place. We’re going to bring our jobs back. Jacksonville’s been great. It’s a great military area and I’m doing very well. By the way, I have General Flynn right back here and a lot of the great military people, and I have a lot of respect for Jacksonville. Many, many friends in Jacksonville and I’m here a lot, actually.”
Part of Trump's speech focused on veterans, an area he’s faced criticism for in the past week.
New4Jax asked Trump about that before the speech.
“It might be true, when you've sacrificed and been in the military like some people. It’s really different in terms of understanding it fully -- but, I do appreciate the military tremendously. I think I have tremendous military support. I think I could have 90 percent military support. The level of support I have from the military has been great. We're going to fix up the VA, it's a mess -- the Veteran’s Administration. I've never seen anything like it. It's grossly incompetent and corrupt and everything else. We're going to make it really great for maybe the first time, ever,” Trump said.