Thread by @julianzelizer

@realDonaldTrump is set to be the grand marshal at the Daytona 500. He’ll give the “start your engines” command, take a lap around the track in an armed limo, and tout his claim to be a populist president./1

thehill.com/homenews/campa…

@realDonaldTrump Democrats need to work harder to respond to this claim, which contradicts his policy record of supply side tax cuts and deregulations./2

nytimes.com/2019/07/23/us/…

@realDonaldTrump This reminds me of a story that I discovered in the archives while researching my biography of Jimmy Carter./3
amazon.com/Jimmy-Carter-P…

@realDonaldTrump During the fall campaign kickoff for the 1976 campaign, Carter scheduled an appearance at the Southern 500 stock car race in Darlington, South Carolina./4

@realDonaldTrump Both candidates wanted to show that the South would be a “battleground” in the election. South Carolina had been shifting to the Republicans since 1964. Carter wanted to win it back./5

@realDonaldTrump Cale Yarborough, a well-known and successful driver, had switched from the GOP to the Democrats because he liked Carter so much. Carter was a big race car fan./6

@realDonaldTrump Carter's advisors learned that Robert Dole, the vice presidential candidate, would appear at Darlington instead of President Ford. The president was conducting a “Rose Garden Strategy,” thereby staying in Washington to remind voters that he was governing./7

@realDonaldTrump Carter's team negotiated an agreement with Dole, in a heated exchange, that their candidate would ride in the rear car twice while Dole would take one lap in the front car./8

@realDonaldTrump When Carter arrived to South Carolina, he touted the event as “the kind of assembly of American people I enjoy going to see . . . working men and women going to see courageous women.”/9

@realDonaldTrump There was some tension in the crowd. One man was arrested for assaulting a law enforcement officer./10

@realDonaldTrump The announcer expressed the anti-government sentiment that hung in the air after Watergate. “Come back next year,” the announcer said, “when all the politicians aren’t around.” /11

@realDonaldTrump When Dole was introduced to the crowd, there were some polite cheers./12

@realDonaldTrump When the announcer introduced Carter, the 60,000+ fans stood up to yell and cheer. The difference was palpable./13

@realDonaldTrump Dole took his lap around the track and then walked up to the VIP booth where both candidates had reserved seats./14

@realDonaldTrump Carter finished his lap and walked directly into the pit to greet the crowds. Then, he went into the grandstand to sit with the fans despite the concerns of the Secret Security./15

@realDonaldTrump With Dole in the VIP section and Carter with the fans, the event turned into an opportunity to highlight the historic difference between the parties./16

@realDonaldTrump In November, Carter defeated Ford in South Carolina, and won the election. He was the only Democrat to win the state between 1964 and 2012./17

@realDonaldTrump The notion that Democratic policies tended to favor working and middle class Americans was still a pretty standard view in 1976, when memories of the New Deal and Great Society loomed large./18

@realDonaldTrump But in this day and age, Democrats will need to work harder to push back on the idea that Republicans, rather than Democrats, are the party of working class Americans./end

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