Trump says he witnessed a migrant stealing a refrigerator: highlights from his NRA event speech

The former president made several surprising remarks while campaigning in Pennsylvania

On Friday, former president Donald Trump addressed a crowd of supporters at the National Rifle Association’s Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he made several surprising comments, including how he saw a migrant stealing a refrigerator and claimed the state’s name would be changed if he isn’t re-elected president.

The event marked Mr Trump’s first Pennsylvania stop on the campaign trial.

Here are some highlights of Trump’s speech:

Trump claims Pennsylvania’s name will be changed if he isn’t re-elected

“We have to win in November,” Mr Trump told the crowd. “Or we’re not going to have Pennsylvania. They’re going to change the name. They’re going to change the name of Pennsylvania.”

It’s not clear who Mr Trump was referring to when he made the remarks. He also criticised decisions to rename buildings and landmarks that were originally named after historical figuress.

In recent years, several institutions have made efforts to change the name of schools named after confederate leaders. For example, several schools in Richmond, Virginia were changed so they would not be named after men who once led the confederacy.

“That’s one even I thought was safe,” he said. “Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, their names are now in danger.”

Trump boasts that he ‘did nothing’ on guns during his presidency

Mr Trump has not shied away from making controversial gun-rights comments while speaking at NRA events. At an event held by the organisation in April, the former president said mass shootings were “not a gun problem”.

Meanwhile, on Friday, the former president told the crowd, “During my four years, nothing happened and there was great pressure on me having to do with guns.”

He continued: “We did nothing. We didn’t yield. And once you yield a little bit that’s just the beginning. The avalanche begins.”

Trump admits he killed border deal

Earlier this week, Senate Republicans killed a bipartisan border security deal that would’ve provided $118bn to reduce higher border crossings and tighten the country’s asylum system.

Speaker Mike Johnson quickly reversed course on the legislation after it was criticised by Mr Trump. The bill’s death also leaves any additional financial backing for the Ukraine war hanging in the balance.

“I think we killed it,” Mr Trump said. “I think it’s dead but you can never say it because bad bills always come back to life, because these guys make a lot of money with bad bills.”

Mr Trump then complained about the amount of money that goes toward legal representation for migrants.

“They give tens of millions, millions of dollars to lawyers to represent the illegal immigrants that come into our country,” he said. “It’s not even believable.”

According to the National Immigrant Justice Center, migrants are not entitled to receive a court-appointed attorney if they cannot afford counsel.

Trump says he saw a migrant shoplifting a refrigerator ‘the other day’

“They rush into the store and they walk out with television sets,” the former president said. “I mean I saw one the other day walking out with a refrigerator. I said ‘he’s a pretty strong guy’”.

Immigrants are 30 per cent less-likely to be imprisoned than white US-born individuals, according to researchers at Stanford University. Furthermore, first-generation immigrants have been less likely to be imprisoned than US citizens since 1880.