RALEIGH, N.C. — President Donald Trump held a campaign rally in Robeson County Saturday afternoon, touting his newly announced support for recognition of the Lumbee Tribe in a last-minute push to secure the swing county for the election.
"That's why we're here," Trump said of supporting federal recognition. "Under this administration you will never be abandoned."
On Wednesday, Trump said he supports full federal recognition for the Lumbees, North Carolina's largest Native American tribe. Weeks earlier, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden made the same pledge.
Members of the Lumbee Tribe sat in sections on each side of Trump, cheering his calls for recognition.
"He's here. He's speaking to us," said Heather Berry-Chavis, a member of the Lumbee Tribe who attended the rally.
Berry-Chavis, 46, was among a few thousand people in attendance at the rally. Few wore masks, and social distancing was nonexistent.
"They've fought for years and still haven't gained recognition," said Joan Joyner, 56.
Joyner, a Robeson County resident, is not Lumbee, but said she speaks with many members of the tribe in her community.
"There's a lot of excitement about him possibly helping them get their federal recognition," Joyner said. "It would be a very big turning point for Robeson County."
Robeson County has been a swing county in recent years as the county slightly went for Trump in the 2016 presidential election, according to the state Board of Elections.
In 2018, the county voted for the Democratic candidate Dan McCready by 15 percentage points in North Carolina's ninth congressional district.
Overall, McCready narrowly lost to Republican Mark Harris, but a special election was held in the district last year after one of Harris' political operatives was charged with two counts of felony obstruction of justice, perjury, solicitation to commit perjury, conspiracy to obstruct justice and possession of absentee ballot.
Robeson County narrowly went for McCready in the special election, but Republican Dan Bishop narrowly won the race overall.
In March, the county voted for Biden in the Democratic primary by 27 points over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Indigenous people are an important voting sector in these elections as they make up over 40% of Robeson County's population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The number of Lumbees in the county is not determined by the census.
According to the Lumbee Tribe, there are 55,000 Lumbees who live primarily in Robeson, Hoke, Cumberland and Scotland counties.
"People recognize that Lumbees are an important voting constituency," said Malinda Maynor Lowery, history professor at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Lowery, who is also a member of the tribe, said many Lumbee people do not prefer one political party over another.
"Lumbee people vote along the lines of whatever we think will fulfill the goal of self-determination," said Lowery.
She said that historically federal recognition is often determined by which groups have the most political sway in the federal government at the time.
"The federal government has changed, sort of moved the goalposts, on what a what qualifies or makes the tribe eligible for federal recognition," Lowery said. "The only explanation for those changes and the inconsistency is that politics matters a lot more than cultural legitimacy."
For much of the battle for recognition, the Eastern Band of Cherokee fought against the Lumbee. They've alleged that the Lumbee shouldn't be recognized as a tribe for many reasons, including history and culture. When Trump came out in support of federal recognition for the Lumbee, Principal Chief of the Eastern Band Richard Sneed denounced the move as a political ploy.
"The pandering has reached new levels," Sneed said in a statement. "The purpose of federal recognition is to empower authentic Native peoples to protect and preserve their culture and identity, not to grant federal endorsement to large-scale cultural identity theft."
Lowery said former President Barack Obama took steps to move the tribe closer to formal recognition during his tenure, but actual recognition proved elusive.
Lowery also said that Trump and Biden made this pledge too late and that other issues in Lumbee communities should take precedent.
"Questions about housing, about health care, about systemic racism, about the very real obstacles that Lumbee people are having to their prosperity are deeply important," Lowery said.
"To the extent that candidates can address solutions to those issues, I think federal recognition accompanies that. Federal recognition doesn't lead the charge."
Trump's visit to Lumberton was one of several campaign events held or scheduled across North Carolina over the weekend.
Friday night, Eric Trump, one of the president's sons, held an indoor rally that drew hundreds to a church in Raleigh.
Vice President Mike Pence is slated to appear at 4 p.m. Sunday for a "Make America Great Again" rally at the Kinston Jet Center in Kinston.
Saturday afternoon, Democratic New Jersey Sen. Corey Booker was in Fayetteville and scheduled to make stops in Raleigh and Cary to campaign for Biden and to advocate for early voting.
