As he has done since he was shot in the head in July, former President Donald Trump spoke from behind a glass barrier protecting him from another would-be shooter.

But Trump landed in Gastonia, North Carolina, to erect another protective barrier: a firewall to keep out a rising Kamala Harris in the Tar Heel State.

The crowd was just as enthusiastic and vocal as at any Trump rally in the last nine years since his debut. There was a sense of finality to the weekend, knowing it would be Trump’s final week of campaigning if he won.

Still, there was a sense of concern at the rally. The last weekend of the campaign is primarily about showing strength. It should be about promoting states to play offense when certain states are on lockdown. North Carolina was the only swing state in 2020 to bust for him.

One of his first stops after his second impeachment last year was the state GOP convention, a show of strength that showed he would outwork his future challengers Ron DeSantis and his former Vice President Mike Pence.

He made that state party chairman, Michael Whatley, co-chair of the RNC. His campaign colleague JD Vance was deployed to North Carolina several times.

“We’re winning this state. “We’re going to win the whole game,” Trump said to applause at the airport.

Some of Trump’s supporters carried trash bags and trash cans, an indication that they were angry at President Joe Biden for allegedly calling them “trash.” The White House has claimed that Biden was specifically referring to comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash.”

Polls show Harris and Trump are completely evenly matched. And what’s more, Harris is now making a last-minute push by visiting Charlotte at the nearby PNC Music Pavilion later Saturday night. After a brief stop in Virginia, Trump travels to Greensboro. On Sunday he will campaign in Kinston and on Monday he will hold a rally in Raleigh.

But there was disbelief at Gastonia Municipal Airport that North Carolina or the national election could be imminent. Two volunteers talked about how surprised they were at how close it was and talked about how some states were purple.

“I can’t believe it’s close,” said Donna Speed ​​of Gastonia The independent, She adds that she believes Trump would win North Carolina.

“I don’t think the polls do it justice,” added Donna’s husband James Speed, claiming that pollsters had just reported their bias as either left or right.

In fact, the entire rally seemed to be permeated by a sense of disbelief. Before taking the stage, Rep. Dan Bishop of North Carolina boasted about the Republican prospects.

“In three days, I will be elected as North Carolina’s first Republican-elected attorney general in 128 years,” Bishop said. But polls show Bishop trailing Democratic candidate and fellow congressman Jeff Jackson.

At the same time, Bishop emphasized an advantage that Republicans have over their opponents.

“For the first time in history, Republicans are leading early voting,” he said. “But here’s the best news of all: There are a lot of Republicans who haven’t voted yet.”

But just before he took the stage, Bishop spoke to a supporter about how difficult it would be for Mark Robinson, the embattled Republican candidate for governor. It was a tacit admission that Republicans are unlikely to win back the governorship even if Trump takes the state.

As the crowd waited for Trump’s arrival, the former president seemed interested in portraying himself as a wrestling babyface (or good guy) by playing footage of him headbutting former WWE manager Vince McMahon during a Wrestlemania shaved. McMahon’s wife, Linda, worked in the Trump administration.

After well-known hits like Van Morrison’s “Brown-Eyed Girl” and Guns N’ Roses, the rally even featured entrance music from The Undertaker, the retired WWE legend who Trump recently had on his podcast.

When Trump finally appeared, he boasted about the size of his crowd, saying that about 20,000 people attended the rally.

“We just wanted to have a small group of people stop by real quick,” he told the crowd to loud cheers. “And this is not a small group.”

But a few minutes after Trump’s speech, the speeds went away. In fact, many people said they walked away either because they were tired from standing or because they wanted to avoid traffic.

Karen Pratt said she crossed the border from Spartanburg, South Carolina. She first visited Trump in South Carolina in 2015 when he was running for the first time.

“We got here early, so we stood for quite a while,” said Pratt, who wore socks with Trump’s likeness The Independent.

Trump, however, continues to enjoy the support of diehards, and many have remained. Likewise, numerous houses in the neighborhood carried huge Trump Vance banners.

It remains to be seen whether all of these people could help Trump launch Force One in the state where the Wright brothers flew their first plane.