MIDDLETOWN, Pennsylvania — President Donald Trump received a warm welcome over the weekend in a Pennsylvania county that went for Hillary Clinton 2016, highlighting the importance his campaign is putting on the battleground state.
Hundreds of Trump supporters on Saturday packed onto rafters and around a stage set up at a hangar at the Harrisburg International Airport, located in Dauphin County, to hear Trump speak.
Some came as far as New York and some walked to the rally from their homes in Middletown, a borough of fewer than 10,000 people.
Some spent the night in the parking lot to be first in line.
The line for the Trump Rally in Harrisburg, PA. #Trump2020 #TrumpRally #TrumpRallyHarrisburg #PeacefulProtest #Election2020 pic.twitter.com/gMxJzR4nah
— Saundra Kiczenski (@SkOnTheGo2) September 26, 2020
Outside was a venue was a huge banner that read: “Asian Pacific Americans [heart] Trump.”
Asian Americans Heart Trump Banner. Kristina Wong/Breitbart News
Tristin Goode, a financial analyst, drove to the rally with friends from Somerset County, New Jersey. She told the Philadelphia Inquirer, “We need law and order; we can’t have this anarchy.” She added: Trump “cares about this country. He gave up a billionaire lifestyle with a supermodel wife because he saw this country needed to be saved.”
Evelyn Conahan, 74, a retired insurance salesperson from Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, told the newspaper she was “thrilled” by Trump’s selection of Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court. “He just wants what’s best for our country,” she said. “I pray for him every night. He’s being attacked from all sides.”
People were still arriving an hour before the event was slated to start. There were fewer than a dozen protesters spotted outside the airport.
Even as a light rain began around 7:00 p.m. ET, the crowd’s enthusiasm was not dampened. People danced to the Village People’s “YMCA,” Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” Phil Collin’s “In the Air Tonight,” and other favorites played by the campaign.
YMCA at the Trump Rally in Harrisburg, PA. #TrumpRally #Maga #Peacefulprotest #MAGA2020 pic.twitter.com/z794D6Y8yo
— Saundra Kiczenski (@SkOnTheGo2) September 27, 2020
Campaign signs were passed out among the crowd, that read: “This is a peaceful protest,” “Peaceful Protester,” “Cops for Trump,” and “Fill that Seat.”
Peaceful Protest Sign. Kristina Wong/Breitbart News
At one point, a black Trump supporter spotted a sign that said “Black Voices for Trump,” and yelled for people to pass it to him. After they did, he waved it over his head as other supporters laughed and cheered.
Two young black Trump supporters then approached him and asked if they could take a picture with his sign.
Black Trump Supporters, Black Voices for Trump Sign. Kristina Wong/Breitbart News
The crowd cheered and whistled as President Trump made his entrance to Lee Greenwood’s song “God Bless the USA.”
The Grand Entrance in Harrisburg, PA. #Trump2020 #TrumpTrain #TrumpRally #Peacefulprotest pic.twitter.com/jaLacZVTwH
— Saundra Kiczenski (@SkOnTheGo2) September 27, 2020
Middletown is part of Dauphin County, one of the 11 counties in Pennsylvania that went for Hillary Clinton in 2016. Trump won 56 counties in Pennsylvania, however, and beat Clinton by less than one percentage of a point, 48.2 to 47.5, or around 40,000 votes.
Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson won 2.4 percent of the vote in 2016 in Dauphin County. A recent poll showed that only one percent support the Libertarian Party candidate this year.
On the same day as Trump’s rally, the Biden campaign held a drive-up merchandise pick up event in nearby Harrisburg, where supporters could pick up Biden signs.
It was the second time in a week that Trump campaigned in Pennsylvania.
Pink Classic Car for Trump-Pence. Kristina Wong/Breitbart News
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