“I wasn’t coming to Erie, I mean I have to be honest,” President Trump said while addressing the crowd at his Erie’s rally Tuesday night. “There was no way I was coming.”

Erie is making national news headlines after Trump’s rally Tuesday night but not for the reasons you may think. He’s being  called out for essentially degrading Erie.

“He admits he only came here because he had to,” Jim Wertz, the Chair of the Democratic Party in Erie says. “It was a disgraceful show of presidential effort to come here and speak to the people of Erie that way.”

Many people on social media say that Trump didn’t mean his remark in a negative way and that they aren’t offended.

“If you know the way he talks you know darn well his point was ‘everything was going good for Erie and I wouldn’t have had to come,’ but the way he says it you know he’s not a politician and he speaks from his heart and believe me there was no intention and he would have come to Erie anyway,” Verel Salmon, the Chair of the Republican Party in Erie says.

“The Trump base is always going to defend him,” Wertz says. “Those people have drank the kool-aid and they’re willing to stand with him through thick and thin.”

Salmon says the crowd clapped and cheered following President Trump’s statement because they know he loves Erie.

“He was saying his work was paying off for Erie and good things happening and then the COVID thing comes along,” Salmon says.

Some still did not appreciate Trump’s comment.

“He says he’s a straight shooter so that’s his straight shot that he didn’t really intend on coming,” Mary Calissie, a Biden supporter says.

“It was like he was attacking us but then I guess it was some odd attempt at humor,” Andrey Rosado says.

“You’re either a comedian or the President of the United States,” Calissie says.

The Republican Chair stands by his statement and says the democrats are just trying to use this against him.