All posts tagged "trump rally"

Trump loyalists proud to support ‘felon’ at Las Vegas rally

Thousands of Donald Trump supporters rallied in baking heat Sunday to cheer on the Republican presidential candidate in Nevada, a key battleground state for the U.S. election in November.

“It’s not too hot out here, right?” the 77-year-old told a cheering crowd in Las Vegas.

“If you start going down, we have people. They’ll pick you up right away. They’ll throw water.”

The gathering in Sunset Park was Trump’s first major rally since he was found guilty late last month of falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election.

But for his most loyal followers, the verdict only strengthened Trump’s position against his Democratic rival, President Joe Biden.

“I don’t care about what happened to him in the trial… it doesn’t change my mind about him at all,” Lindsay Elliott, who came to the Trump event with her family, told AFP.

“I think it’s going to help him. I think that the American people are done with this crap,” the 40-year-old added.

Her daughter Mackenzie, 19, agreed: “It sucks what happened but I think it’s just going to make him stronger and make voters more encouraged to vote (for him).”

Trump, who faces three other criminal cases which are unlikely to be heard before the November election, spoke for just under an hour and attacked Biden as “the worst president in the history of our country.”

The Republican repeated conspiracy theories that the 2020 election was “stolen” by Democrats — despite exhaustive investigations finding no such evidence, and him being charged in relation to his alleged attempts to overturn the ballot result.

Trump also spoke ominously of the consequences if he is not elected in November, telling supporters: “If it doesn’t happen, you’re headed to World War III.”

‘Convicted felon’

Trump has been on a political swing through the American West that saw him hold a fundraiser in California and attend a campaign town hall event in Arizona.

By 10:00 am (1700 GMT) Sunday in Las Vegas, as the thermometer already read 93 degrees Fahrenheit (34 Celsius), people wearing the traditional red of the Republican Party were queueing to hear Trump speak at midday, when the mercury soared to triple digits.

Vendors sold t-shirts reading “I’m voting for the convicted felon” — alluding to Trump’s verdict — along the mile-long line.

Near the end of the rally, at least one person overcome by the heat was seen being attended to by paramedics.

Trump’s Las Vegas event was a first for Shay Chan, 25, who found himself motivated by the New York court ruling.

“It’s very disheartening to see America is turning in this direction,” Chan told AFP. “If it can happen to Trump, it can happen to anyone else, right?”

Others came to show their support even if they could not vote, such as Karen Hall — a Chilean who lives in the United States but is not a citizen. She said illegal migration is an important issue for her.

“I’m an immigrant and I had to wait years to get my visa and arrive legally, and it bothers me that so many immigrants arrive illegally and pass through like it’s nothing. That bothers me a lot, that’s why I support president Trump,” she said.

Beth Matthews, wearing a Trump t-shirt, said she was only buoyed by his criminal conviction.

“I contributed right away to the campaign as soon as they came out” with the verdict, she said.

Democrats want progressives (and everyone else) to watch entire Trump rallies

Conventional Democratic orthodoxy suggests liberals should ignore former President Donald Trump’s bombast, and the news media should not "platform him" and “give him oxygen” in the form of attention.

But a leading Democratic super PAC wants you to do the opposite — and will soon launch what some might consider a counterintuitive effort to defeat Trump once and for all.

American Bridge 21st Century will begin encouraging people to watch one of Trump’s MAGA rallies in its entirety — not just social media snippets or news reports.

ALSO READ: Lauren Boebert’s high school has canceled the congresswoman

“We want you, no matter where you stand in politics, to watch a Trump rally — the entire thing, start to finish,” Brandon Weathersby, presidential campaigns communications director for American Bridge 21st Century, says in a video that will be posted on social media starting Monday night. The group is also distributing a press release.

Trump has two rallies Tuesday, in Grand Rapids, Mich., at 2:30 p.m. ET and Green Bay, Wis., at 6 p.m. ET.

"We watch Trump every day, for hours on end,” said Weathersby, whose super PAC specializes in opposition research. “The clips you see on social media and the soundbites on the evening news can't do his extremism and wild behavior justice. Trump claims there will be violent riots and terror attacks if he doesn’t win in November – and that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his unhinged rallies. You have to watch a full speech.”

ALSO READ: 11 ways Trump doesn’t become president

Weathersby emphasizes in the video, which Raw Story viewed prior to its release, that people should absorb Trump's rhetoric, consistent election denial, talk about being a dictator and promise of chaos if he doesn’t win.

“Watch this guy yourself and make up your own mind,” Weathersby said. “You’re not going to get five minutes in without being terrified of the idea of him in office again.”

Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request from Raw Story for comment.

'Buckle up': Watergate lawyer says Roger Stone’s 'day is coming'

Former Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman warned Roger Stone that the strong arm of the law isn't far off.

Akerman was speaking to Jason Johnson on Thursday, who was filling in for MSNBC's Ari Melber, when Johnson replayed a clip of the bombshell documentary that exposed Roger Stone's role in the Jan. 6 attack and in proposing the idea of fake electors.

Among the things revealed in the doc is that Stone had a meltdown over the fact that Trump didn't pardon him before leaving office on Jan. 20.

POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?

"I think the real problem here is that in the Jan. 6th indictment that was brought to the District of Columbia by Jack Smith, he wanted to keep it really simple, and had only Donald Trump as a defendant, so he could get this to trial in January or February of next year," explained Akerman.

As for Roger Stone, however, Akerman said, "I guarantee you they have something on him. I mean, just to give you a couple of little tidbits, we know that Roger Stone was on Capitol Hill on Jan. 5th, the day before the riot. He was hanging out with the very people that you just mentioned in that group chat, the Proud Boys, and the Oath Keepers. In fact, he was photographed with the three of the Oath Keepers who have pled guilty to seditious conspiracy and agreed to cooperate with the government."

Those witnesses, the three Oath Keepers, haven't yet been called in any of the trials.

"And I think the radical reason is, probably they are saving those people for Roger Stone," said Akerman. "If they had had them testify in the original trials, they would have had to turn over all of the statements and reveal what they have said about Roger Stone. So, my sense is that Roger Stone's day is coming. Buckle up your seatbelt, and just sit and wait."

See the full commentary in the video below or at the link right here.

Roger Stone's day is coming: watergate lawyeryoutu.be

N.C. city leaders privately questioned whether Trump-headlined convention was worth it: docs

When former President Donald Trump and other prominent presidential candidates come to town, local governments often find themselves expending significant public resources to ensure public safety.

Greensboro, N.C., was no different when the North Carolina Republican Party Convention came to town in June, and city officials enlisted its understaffed police force to provide security for thousands of visitors and three presidential candidate headliners — Trump included.

But in the days leading up to the event, Greensboro began asking, is it all worth it?

After all, the convention would end up costing the city about $45,000 for 1,150 police officer work hours.

“Do we get reimbursed any of our additional expenses for security from the GOP?” Tammi Thurm, a councilwoman for the City of Greensboro, wrote to the city’s police chief and assistant city manager on June 7.

Raw Story obtained the email through a City of Greensboro public records request.

Thurm later followed up: “In a time where we are so short handed, and OT budgets are limited, we need to figure out if the [Convention and Visitors Bureau] should still be recruiting these events to Greensboro, or if they cost us too much.”

Greensboro’s concerns come at a time when cash-strapped municipalities across the country find themselves paying tens of thousands — even hundreds of thousands — of dollars to provide public safety coverage for Trump campaign visits.

But Trump’s campaign has almost universally refused to help defray the unexpected public safety costs stemming from his rallies at a time when he’s facing 78 felonies across three criminal cases.

Trump’s campaign has to date racked up millions in public safety bills from his MAGA rallies that his campaign neglected to pay, with his campaign arguing that its under no obligation to pay them.

The presidential campaigns of Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who headlined the North Carolina convention, could have volunteered campaign funds to cover security costs incurred for their visits. The North Carolina GOP that hosted the event could’ve chipped in, too.

But they didn’t.

‘Plan for contingencies’

Nathaniel “Trey” Davis, an assistant city manager for the City of Greensboro, replied to Thurm’s email and explained that reimbursement for such events has been a “challenge” in the past.

He pointed to the Greensboro Department police chief to “add some context on recent successes.”

“We are working with staff from the NC GOP to coordinate our security and response for the event, which includes who will bear the cost for the services,” John Thompson, Greensboro Police Department chief of police, replied in a June 7 email. “In most dignitary visits we never fully recoup the costs as we have to plan for contingencies typically not covered for the event.”

In an interview with Raw Story, Thurm explained that political event-related police expenditures have “traditionally” been a “city expense” that the taxpayers will cover. The City of Greensboro didn’t send a bill to the Trump, Pence or DeSantis campaigns or the North Carolina GOP as many other municipalities have done in similar situations, with limited success.

“It's always a concern when you're short staffed to have to dedicate people to be at certain places at certain times, that kind of thing, but it's what we do as a city,” Thurm said. “It's our obligation to protect the public and that's the role we have to fulfill.”

Since the convention was a state-level event, Thurm said the city wasn’t eligible for federal reimbursement of public safety costs.

“Just the GOP convention, it's just kind of our obligation,” Thurm said. “There's a function in our city — support that and work with those function sponsors to make sure that everything goes smoothly for them.”

The Greensboro Police Department said in a statement in response to Raw Story’s open records request, “GPD was involved in the GOP convention. There was no contract. It was treated as one of our normal dignitary visits using on-duty and activated Greensboro Police Department resources. There were no financial or contractual transactions between the Greensboro Police Department and the GOP.”

When asked how a $45,000 expense plays into the city’s broad budget, Thurm said, “Every dollar should be significant to the taxpayers, but in the grand scheme of things, $45,000 is not a huge amount of money in our budget. What's more taxing is the hours for police officers, when we're short staffed anyway, to have to be committed to events and traffic control, but that's true whether it's the convention or whether it's a major concert or some other function.”

Thurm said she anticipates Greensboro will continue to host events such as the North Carolina GOP Convention. The upside to these events is that they attract visitors who spend money and support the local economy.

“It's a good thing for our community. Certainly, we welcome visitors to our community, and the dollars they spend, it helps offset the hotel motel taxes, helps offset these expenses,” Thurm said. “I can't say whether or not it covered it all, but certainly we had thousands of people come here and stay in our hotels and eat at our restaurants and shop in Greensboro, and that's a good thing.”

The North Carolina GOP did not respond to Raw Story’s request for comment.

Trump visits often cost small-town taxpayers

From far-right Republican Ted Cruz to far-left Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, some presidential candidates have voluntarily paid public safety bills using campaign money.

Trump, Pence or DeSantis’s campaign could have all used their campaign funds to contribute to Greensboro’s costs, but Trump, in particular, is known for avoiding paying for public safety costs related to his speaking engagements, particularly MAGA rallies.

Take Erie, Pa.

Officials there are still trying to get Trump to pay for a $35,129.27 bill from 2018 for overtime pay that city workers, including police officers, earned for covering his previous rally. When he came to town in late July, the city tried billing him upfront for $5,200 for police overtime costs, Raw Story reported.

When Trump first didn’t pay his 2018 bill in Erie, the Center for Public Integrity reported that Trump had not only stiffed Erie but also hadn’t paid $841,219 total to various city governments. The campaign’s unpaid bills grew to nearly $2 million by December 2020, Insider reported.

Cities including Minneapolis and El Paso, Texas, have threatened or pursued legal action against the Trump campaign to no avail.

And some cities are still footing the bill to protect Trump, his supporters and the community, writ large. Among them: Manchester, N.H., where 35 officers supported a Trump hotel rally on April 27 — clocking in 216.5 hours of overtime that cost an estimated $12,870 — for which the city government covered the costs, according to records obtained by Raw Story.

In recent months, city governments have taken note of Trump’s debts and used creative techniques to ensure Trump pays up front.

They include Waco, Texas, where the Trump campaign settled up a $60,714.27 bill for a March rally on city property.

Trump, who leads all polls for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is continuing to have an active campaign and speaking schedule despite facing several legal battles, including two federal indictments. This week it was announced that Trump was charged with four felony counts in relation to the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection and his alleged effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election. He also faces 39 felony counts related to the alleged willful retention of classified documents and conspiracy to conceal, along with felony business record falsification charges in New York City stemming from a "hush money" payment.

Officials in Fulton County, Georgia, are also investigating whether Trump tampered with the results of the state’s 2020 presidential vote.

Trump’s campaign did not respond to Raw Story’s request for comment at the time of publication.

'Not a crime': Trump dismisses N.Y. probe at Texas rally

WACO, Texas (AFP) — Donald Trump staged his first presidential campaign rally in Texas Saturday, brushing off his potential indictment as he railed against multiple criminal probes threatening his bid for the White House.

The Republican leader addressed several thousand supporters in the conservative bastion of Waco as he braces for possible charges over a hush money payout to a porn star alleging a sexual encounter just days before the 2016 election.

Maintaining the investigation was over "something that is not a crime, not a misdemeanor, not an affair," Trump told supporters how he had been the victim of "one witch hunt and phony investigation after another."

The rally comes amid a torrent of increasingly bellicose statements by the former president claiming "misconduct" by prosecutors he refers to as "human scum" who are pursuing cases against him in New York, Washington and Atlanta.

The 76-year-old — who was impeached for inciting an insurrection — called last weekend for protests against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and claimed falsely that he was about to be arrested.

"This is really prosecutorial misconduct. That's what it's called. The innocence of people makes no difference whatsoever to these radical left maniacs," he told an enthusiastic crowd.

For loyal followers, the lines were likely familiar, with the appearance marking a thrilling opportunity finally to see the ex-president at a rally.

With Trump speaking in the background, Hungarian-American retiree Marianna Bodrogi told AFP the occasion marked "the first time I've seen Trump in person."

"I love him, he's our savior," the 69-year-old said.

'Feeling his spirit'

Some of those arriving in Waco for the Trump rally came from other states, and said they were eager to see their candidate returned to the Oval Office, with many wearing MAGA caps or waving flags touting his campaign.

"We have huge power behind Donald Trump that has yet to be unleashed," said Kelly Heath, 49, who lives in Georgia. "You will be shocked."

Trump is believed to be the frontrunner to be the Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential election.

The chasing pack, led by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has not formally declared, was initially reticent in its criticism of the ex-reality TV star, but has recently begun criticizing his character and the constant whiff of scandal that surrounds him.

Physician Felicia Macik, a Waco resident in the crowd, told AFP "getting ready to move forward into the new election season, it's been just real inspiring."

The 54-year old said that among the rally's joys were "just seeing him in person and feeling his spirit and making our presence known here."

'Death & destruction'

Trump is under federal investigation for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat and inciting the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol that his supporters launched to halt the peaceful transfer of power to Joe Biden.

Commentators noted that he pointedly neglected to call for protesters to be peaceful this time around.

In the early hours of Friday, Trump issued a dark warning about the consequences of an indictment, predicting "potential death & destruction" that "could be catastrophic for our Country."

He suggested that Bragg, who is leading the hush money probe, was a "degenerate psychopath that truly hates the USA."

Trump's choice of Waco for his rally was laden with symbolism — the city is marking the 30th anniversary of a deadly 1993 standoff between an anti-government cult and federal agents and has become a touchstone for far-right fringe activists glorying in its history of government resistance.

Some Trump supporters trickled into the Waco Siege Memorial on Friday to commemorate the 80 or so people who died in the 1993 standoff at the compound of the Branch Davidian sect, which was besieged by federal agents.

Trump, however, made no mention of the episode Saturday evening.

His spokesman was quoted by U.S. media as pointing to the choice of the central Texas city for its ease of access to others across the state.

Trump's Waco rally leaves El Paso officials seething

When former President Donald Trump rallies today in Waco, Texas, under a cloud of legal scandal, he'll do so after his campaign reportedly paid the central Texas city's government more than $60,000 to cover various municipal services, such as public safety costs.

But across the state, in El Paso, city officials there tell Raw Story that they're still waiting for Trump's campaign committee to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bills stemming from the former president's February 2019 visit to their border town.

"The Trump campaign has not submitted any payments for their debt," El Paso city spokesperson Laura Cruz-Acosta confirmed to Raw Story, noting that the current Trump tab is $569,204.63, including a city-issued late fee of $98,787.58.

El Paso is still trying to get Trump to pay up. In late 2020, the El Paso City Council unanimously took action to hire the Law Offices of Snapper L. Carr to "advocate in the City’s interest in the collection of the outstanding invoices," Cruz-Acosta said.

"The city continues to seek the payment of these past due expenses, so city taxpayers do not continue have to bear the cost," she added.

Most of El Paso's Trump-related charges stem from police and fire department expenses, according to a current City of El Paso invoice obtained by Raw Story.

Trump has been notoriously stingy when it comes to paying public safety-related bills city governments have sent his campaign committee to defray the often significant and unexpected costs of facilitating and securing a large-scale political event.

Insider in 2020 calculated that Trump's campaign had not paid nearly $2 million worth of public safety-related invoices sent to his campaign by more than a dozen municipal governments, including those of Minneapolis; Erie, Pa.; Tucson, Ariz.; Battle Creek, Mich.; Spokane, Wash.; Lebanon, Ohio; and Burlington, Vt.

The Daily Beast has since found other unpaid bills, although the Trump campaign appears to have paid at least one, from Sioux City, Iowa, after being pressured by local officials.

Waco officials did not immediately comment on the financial particulars of Trump's visit and asked Raw Story to make a written request for details, which have not yet been provided.

But the difference between why Trump is paying his Waco bills, as first reported by the Waco Tribune-Herald, and ignoring his El Paso bills appears tied to the mundane but significant matter of jurisdiction and contractual obligations.

Trump conducted his 2019 rally at the El Paso County Coliseum, which is controlled by the nonprofit El Paso Sports Commission, not the City of El Paso. Nevertheless, City of El Paso officials provided police and other resources for the event, but had no power to compel the Trump campaign to pay beforehand.

Similarly, other city governments that provide city services for Trump rallies at non-city facilities are left to invoice the campaign of the former president with the hope that he'll pay up after the fact.

Most of the cities have been left disappointed.

"It is the U.S. Secret Service, not the campaign, which coordinates with local law enforcement. The campaign itself does not contract with local governments for police involvement. All billing inquiries should go to the Secret Service,” the Trump campaign told the Center for Public Integrity in 2020.

The U.S. Secret Service, which indeed oversees security for the visit of a current or former president, does not, however, receive funding from Congress to reimburse municipal governments for services they render at the Secret Services' behest. Cities could theoretically refuse to provide public services for Trump rallies, but such a move would introduce other risks officials aren't willing to shoulder, from traffic snarls to public safety breakdowns in the event of a Trump rally-related emergency.

Since Trump is conducting his Waco rally at the Waco Regional Airport, which the city government manages, City of Waco officials had leverage in compelling Trump to sign a pre-rally contract and pay up before the event took place.

In other words: no pay, no play.

Several city governments, including the government of Nashville, Tenn., have taken similar approaches to Trump rallies when Trump's campaign wanted to use a city-managed facility for a political event.

Trump has long professed his love and admiration for law enforcement officials.

"Nobody appreciates you more than the president of the United States. Everybody knows what you do, and everybody cares. Without you, it just couldn't be the same. It would be really bad," Trump said in a video on Law Enforcement Appreciation Day 2020.

But when Trump rallies tonight in Waco — the event coincides with the 30th anniversary of the federal government’s siege of the compound of David Koresh’s Branch Davidians religious cult — he'll do so with local and federal law enforcement officials on his case from multiple angles.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is investigating whether Trump violated election laws and potentially falsified business documents to illegally cover up a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, with whom he allegedly had an affair. Trump himself says he expects to be indicted soon.

Trump also faces legal peril in Fulton County, Georgia, related to an investigation into whether he attempted to illegally overturn 2020 presidential election results.

A federal special counsel is also investigating Trump's role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and his handling of classified government documents in the months after he left the White House.