Thousands of supporters packed the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena on Wednesday night to listen to GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Trump took the stage about 40 minutes later than expected, but when he arrived, he entered a packed arena.
Trump started his speech addressing some of his recent criticism, specifically comments about a Muslim-American Gold Star military family, to which he countered by recognizing Gold Star families in the audience. Trump held up a Purple Heart given to him at a previous rally.
From there, Trump spoke of why he’s a different candidate and why he’s needed in the White House.
"We're always losing. We're losing with the Iran deal, we're losing with education, we're losing every single thing, we're losing. Our military's depleted. Our vets, we love our vets, they're not properly taken care of. And we're going to take care of that," Trump said.
Trump also spoke about religious freedom, freedom of speech, border protection and the economy.
"We’re going to bring back our jobs, to start off. You know, this area has been devastated, devastated by your manufacturing jobs moving to Mexico and other places," Trump said.
Trump said if manufacturing leave the United States and want to bring products back in, he’ll tax them 35 percent.
Throughout the speech, there was a lot of excitement in the arena but at times, there was some opposition. Prior to Trump's speech, some women wearing "Love Trump Hate" shirts were asked to leave the arena.
Outside, there were other protests by those against Trump's policies and agendas.
"The fact is, poor working people in the United States have nothing in common with a billionaire like Donald Trump. And we're out here to show people that, and show the community that Jacksonville is not going to stand for this kind of hatred or bigotry," said Dave Schneider of the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition.
Supporters said they appreciated Trump's strength.
"When we got people coming to kill us, we need a president that says 'we're going to kill you back,'" said Trump supporter Joseph Williams.
You can watch Trump's full speech below:
Watch live: Donald Trump speaks to thousands of supporters at rally in Jacksonville. You can also watch live on ActionNewsJax.com: http://bit.ly/1rR5AYf Michael Yoshida Action News Jax will have the latest from the rally beginning on FOX30 Action News Jax at 10.
Posted by Action News Jax on Wednesday, August 3, 2016
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