MINT HILL, N.C. — Former President Donald Trump returned to the Charlotte area Wednesday for a campaign event where he focused largely on immigration and the economy. He avoided the latest developments in North Carolina’s governor race.

The Republican nominee addressed a crowd of hundreds for a little more than an hour on the warehouse floor of a factory in Mint Hill. He repeated familiar rhetoric about crime and personal attacks on his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump pledged to support American manufacturing jobs by offering tax cuts to U.S.-based companies and imposing tariffs on foreign-made goods.

”We will take in hundreds of millions of dollars,” he said.

Referencing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, Trump described the world as being on the brink of a major global outbreak of violence.

“We have never been so close to World War III,” he said. “... I will ensure World War III will not happen.”

It’s his second visit to the critical battleground state in recent days, after holding a rally in Wilmington on Saturday. Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, was in Charlotte on Monday for multiple campaign events.

The visit also comes as Republicans across the state grapple with a scandal surrounding Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, whose campaign for governor was upended by a CNN report alleging he made racist and sexually explicit comments on a pornography website’s message board. Democrats have tried to tie other GOP candidates up and down the ballot, including Trump, to Robinson in the wake of the story.

Trump did not acknowledge the story during the Mint Hill event, and Robinson wasn’t among the state and local leaders who appeared or spoke Wednesday. Robinson has appeared at past Trump campaign events, and the former president previously called him “Martin Luther King on steroids.”

The Republican nominee said he’s “dominating” the presidential race, but recent polls show thin margins in the majority of key swing states, including North Carolina. Trump’s lead in North Carolina is just half a percentage point, according to RealClearPolitics’ polling average.

Trump ended his speech after more than an hour with a call for supporters to turn out and vote in the election

”We want a landslide that’s too big to rig,” he said.

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