Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz returned to Asheville on Wednesday to headline a closing-sprint rally that was equal parts football-coach pep talk, praise for the region’s resilience after Tropical Storm Helene, and a pitch for tourists to return to help fuel an economic recovery.
The rally at the Orange Peel concert venue, which holds 1,050, was designed to pump energy into the Democratic Party’s push to win the White House for Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz, the folksy Minnesota governor. It was Walz’s second campaign visit to Asheville, coming six weeks after a similar event at a rival music venue, Salvage Station, which was destroyed by the overflowing French Broad River.
Making full use of his Minnesota-nice personality and background as a high school football coach, Walz fired up the passionate crowd for the closing push for votes.
Election Day, Nov. 5, is “just 150 hours away,” he said, adding “we can sleep when we’re dead.”
The crowd takes in Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz’s appearance at the Orange Peel. // Watchdog photo by Starr Sariego
But Walz devoted his opening remarks to praising those behind the ongoing relief efforts, and to bolstering the community’s spirit as it struggles to recover from Helene, which killed more than 100 in North Carolina, including 43 in Buncombe County, and destroyed countless businesses and homes. The governor said he returned to Asheville to highlight “revival and restoration” rather than “revenge and retribution,” a slap at Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump’s grievance-fueled campaign.
Walz reminisced about his September visit where a capacity crowd withstood a drenching rain to hear him speak at the Salvage Station, located just yards from the French Broad River.
“We’ve done a lot of events,” Walz told the crowd, but said the Salvage Station rally remains vivid in his memory. “We stood out in the drizzle, then it started to pour, but everybody stuck around.
“Maybe that was foreshadowing a little bit of what was to happen because in the wake of Hurricane Helene, this community did the exact same thing: The community stuck around and pulled together.”
State’s key role means multiple candidate visits
Both Walz and Harris were in North Carolina Wednesday, and Trump and running mate J.D. Vance, the Ohio senator, are expected in the state over the next few days. The attention paid to North Carolina reflects its key role in the election’s outcome and the razor-thin margin separating the rival campaigns.
Asheville is a Democratic Party outlier in a region hammered by Helene. Particularly hard hit was the city’s River Arts District, where many arts studios, restaurants, craft breweries and other tourist attractions have been damaged, many beyond repair, and thousands of workers are unemployed.
Facing the crowd in front of a backdrop reading “When we vote, we win,” Walz singled out Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer for her “leadership under pressure” in dealing with the city’s on-going challenges. Gesturing toward her in the crowd, Walz said he and Harris “are not going to rest until you get all the support to rebuild this community.”
Walz turned to the bank of television cameras broadcasting the event to “make a pitch to some of those folks who may be watching tonight.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz repeated his description of Republican running mates Donald Trump and J.D. Vance as “weird” and directed his harshest criticism at Elon Musk. // Watchdog photo by Starr Sariego
“If you have never visited this American treasure of Asheville, book your tickets now,” he said, igniting cheers. “This [city] is a treasure. The food’s fantastic. The music is electric. The creativity of the River District is second to none.
“These small businesses need your help. Come down here and spend your money.”
Turning back to the crowd, he showered the community with praise: “The spirit of Asheville is the spirit of this country. It is tenacious and it is not going down without a fight.”
The rally was in marked contrast to Trump’s deliberately low-key visit Oct. 21, which featured a photo opportunity and private meeting with Republican office holders and local supporters whose businesses had been damaged. The Republican nominee went by motorcade to a devastated section of Swannanoa 15 miles east of Asheville for the meeting and held no crowd events.
Like his Democratic rivals, Trump also pledged his administration’s support for rebuilding local businesses and assisting the storm’s victims. But he also repeated his frequent and controversial attacks on the Federal Emergency Management Agency for its oversight of federal recovery efforts, and falsely claimed FEMA is “broke” because it diverted relief money from the region to care for undocumented immigrants at the southern border.
Walz didn’t neglect the typical vice presidential candidate’s role as the ticket’s attack dog, adopting a tone of a trash-talking athlete.
Walz trains harshest criticism at Musk
He didn’t repeat Harris’s recent attacks on Trump as a “fascist” following a Nazi playbook. Nor did he single out Trump supporters for demonizing immigrants, insulting Hispanics, calling Harris “the devil,” and – at the former president’s closing rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday – denigrating Puerto Rico as “an island of garbage.”
Walz repeated his description of Trump and Vance as “weird” more than malevolent. And he directed his harshest criticism at Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and Trump’s close confidant. Trump has said he would appoint Musk as his commissioner on government efficiency, instructing him to cut trillions of dollars from federal spending.
“If you’re a billionaire like Elon Musk, you get something,” Walz said. “You get a tax cut. And the rest of us get squat.”
He pointed to Musk’s recent comment that if he adhered to Trump’s policies in overhauling the nation’s economy, the short-term impact would be to “tank the economy” and perhaps crash the stock market, before recovering to a stronger level.
The North Carolina band American Aquarium played a concert at Tim Walz’s campaign appearance. // Watchdog photo by Starr Sariego
Walz repeated Musk’s forecast, adding: “Americans will have to face, and I quote, ‘some hardships.’ What in the hell does the richest man on the planet know about hardships?”
Walz also urged the crowd to seek out voters who, while acknowledging they’re unhappy with Trump’s harsh attacks, say they’ll support his reelection because they believe the economy was better in the Trump administration from 2016 to 2020.
“I think they may be remembering things a little bit differently than the way they were,” Walz said. “So let me refresh their memories: Four years ago our country had lost 2.7 million jobs; unemployment was way up because Donald Trump botched the pandemic relief. He botched it so badly, do you remember, that under Donald Trump we were fighting to get toilet paper.”
He recited a litany of promises that Harris has made if she wins election. Among them tax credits for young families, first-time business owners and first-time home buyers; an expansion of Medicare to include home care, dental care and hearing aids, and a cap on costs for such drugs as insulin.
Walz said the Republican platform as outlined in Project 2025 – the 900-page report written by Trump allies but disavowed by Trump – would severely cut Social Security and Medicare, and would kill the Affordable Care Act.
“People are going to ask – and it’s a good question – is, ‘How are you going to pay for this?’ And I say, well a starting point would be to have Donald Trump pay his damn tax,” Walz continued. “Ten of the last 15 years he hasn’t paid federal tax, but he tells us every day how rich he is. How does he think we pay for our police and our teachers and our firefighters and our roads and our water treatment plants? That’s what we do, we pay our taxes.”
Walz’s sharpest attack was aimed at Trump’s role in reversing abortion rights through the Supreme Court’s 2022 reversal of Roe v. Wade. Since then 20 states, including North Carolina, have banned abortion in most cases, or reduced women’s right to choose abortion.
Walz, like Harris, is a strong supporter of a national reproductive-rights law that would limit government’s ability to restrict abortion rights. He addressed men in the crowd, telling them: “Picture those women you love in your life: your wife, partner, daughter, neighbors, everyone else.”
“And when you think about this election, [think of] the way they’re seeing it and the way we need to see it,” Walz continued. “It is their lives that are at stake. Their lives are at stake. And that’s not hyperbole.”
Salvage Station owner Danny McClinton made opening remarks before Tim Walz appeared. The Salvage Station, now destroyed by Helene, had served as the venue for Walz’s first appearance in Asheville on Sept. 17. // Watchdog photo by Starr Sariego
He spoke for more than 30 minutes without a teleprompter or notes, wrapping up by reverting to the vocabulary of a coach exhorting a team to rise to the effort needed for victory.
“It’s a tight game,” Walz said, “and we’ve got two minutes on the clock. We’re moving down the field. We have the best quarterback in Kamala Harris. We’ve got the best team in all of us.
“There will be plenty of time to sleep when we’re dead.”
Among the most emotional moments of the event were remarks delivered by Danny McClinton, owner of the demolished Salvage Station, who was asked by Walz to make the introduction. McClinton noted the paradox of speaking at the Orange Peel, a competitor for 10 years.
“You talk about coming together,” he said.
“As our local communities have worked together, I look at it as if Republicans, Democrats and independents could work together before our country slips into a form of government more dangerous than the hell we have gone through.”
[Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified Salvage Station owner Danny McClinton in a photo caption.]
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Tom Fiedler is a Pulitzer Prize-winning political reporter and dean emeritus from Boston University who lives in Asheville. Email him at tfiedler@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-03-28 12:56:00
(The Center Square) – Persistent dry and windy conditions, along with downed trees from Hurricane Helene six months ago, remain troublesome for wildfires in the Carolinas.
The Table Rock Fire, largest of several, has crossed from Pickens County in South Carolina to Transylvania County in North Carolina.
In an update from the South Carolina Forestry Commission on Thursday evening, the Tabe Rock fire grew significantly during the day and the Persimmon Ridge fire only modestly. The Table Rock fire is estimated 8,679 acres and the Persimmon Ridge fire 1,992 acres.
Three counties are home to four other significant size fires in the Tarheel State: Deep Woods and Black Cove in Polk County, Alarka in Swain County, and Rattlesnake Branch in Haywood County.
“Excessive storm debris and timber damage from Hurricane Helene has created many challenges for firefighting efforts,” a release from the North Carolina Forest Service said Friday morning. “One factor is the loss of tree canopy. More ground cover is receiving direct sunlight, accelerating the rate in which fuels dry out.”
The Black Cove fire that originated March 19 is 3,288 acres in size and 17% contained, the Forest Service says. It is approximately 2 miles northeast of Saluda in the Green River Gorge.
The Deep Woods fire, also a March 19 start, is 3,373 acres in size and 30% contained, the Forest Service says. It is about 5 miles northwest of Columbus in the Green River Gorge and the adjacent Holbert Cove community.
The Fish Hook fire that began March 20 is 199 acres in size and 95% contained, the Forest Service says. This fire is about 5 miles northwest of Mill Spring near Lake Adger.
Other fires of size are burning near Sylva and Leicester.
Burning bans are in effect throughout North and South Carolina.
SUMMARY: A wildfire in Western North Carolina has become the highest priority in the U.S. The Black Cove Complex fire near Saluda has burned over 6,500 acres, with over 500 firefighters working to contain it. Authorities warn residents in mountain communities, like Buncombe County, to prepare evacuation bags in case orders are issued. The fire has triggered statewide concerns, with varying levels of fire danger across the state. A statewide burn ban is in effect, and officials are hopeful that rain expected this weekend will help control the blaze. Aircraft are being used to drop water and fire retardant to assist firefighting efforts.
More firefighters are arriving in Western North Carolina now that the Fire Service says a fire burning there is now the highest priority in the U.S.
SUMMARY: In late March 1963, Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller *The Birds* premiered, and in honor of its anniversary, Scott Mason revisits Elm City’s own bird phenomenon. Every afternoon, flocks of hundreds of thousands of starlings and blackbirds gather, creating a stunning, synchronized spectacle. The birds swarm the same fields at the same time, a behavior observed for over 20 years. Local residents are captivated by the sight, though some remain curious about the birds’ nature. Experts believe the birds flock for food and protection. This “bird ballet” continues to awe those lucky enough to witness it each day.
It was around this time in March 1963 when the movie “The Birds” premiered. The Tar Heel Traveler revisits Elm City’s very own thrilling version of the birds.