2 weeks Ago By Max Corstorphan
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN: Former President Donald Trump’s microphone has dropped out of the race, but that isn’t stopping his hoards of loyal supporters from backing the Republican candidate. Mr Trump hosted three rallies on Saturday. First in Greensboro, North Carolina, then Salem Virginia and finally Milwaukee Wisconsin.
Assuming Mr Trump stayed in Nevada on Friday after his rally, the former president travelled a distance of around 5,100km throughout the day, not including his chopper flight after his final rally. A chopper flew in over the stadium at just after 7pm local time, however, there were no screams from fans as 16,000 people were already packed into the Fiserv Forum, eagerly waiting to hear from Mr Trump. A sea of red “Make America Great Again” hats filled the stadium, with some dressed up in high-vis or a costume for the event, one impersonating Mr Trump working at McDonald’s, another who came as “the wall” at the border.
Mr Trump instantly took control of the crowd, telling them: “I don’t want your money. I want your damn vote.” He continued with his usual rhetoric saying Vice President Kamala Harris had ruined the country, that he would stop immigration and that he would fight immigration.
At that moment, Mr Trump’s microphone stopped working. He kept talking, not making the realisation, even at times pumping his fist in response to yells from the crowd asking for the volume to be fixed. The irony of large screens displaying the message “Trump will fix it” above a close-up video feed of toe former president was poetic.
Parts of the crowd were breaking into fury screaming in the venue, while others attempted to calm them down to avoid a scene at the rally. Eventually, 24-year-old Ryley Gill, who was wearing a high-vis vest inspired by Mr Trump’s response to President Joe Biden calling Republican voters “garbage”, started to chant “Fix the mic.” Her efforts quickly caught on, with the entire stadium erupting into a chant as the former resident realised he had been speaking into a vacuum.
“Oh the mic,” Mr Trump said as he ripped it from the stand and held it in his hand, “Is this better?” he asked as he raised his voice. Sadly for Republicans, it was not. Almost 10 uncomfortable minutes passed before a staffer ran another microphone to Mr Trump.
After soldiering on while holding the microphone, he paused, saying “I’ve never held a microphone up so long in my damn life.” ‘Do you want to see me knock the hell out of people backstage?” he joked. “I get so mad, I’m up here seething.
I’m working my ass off with this stupid mic.” “I don’t care about lighting, I just ask for a damn mic.” Ms Gill later said she started the chant as she was “frustrated” that she couldn’t hear “my president”.
“He actually heard it,” she said. The registered nurse is pained by the amount of money being taken out of her pay each week by the Government and thinks “fake Kamala Harris” can’t change things. “The last four years have just been awful,” she said.
“We can’t survive a Kamala Harris presidency,” she added. If Ms Harris wins, Ms Gill plans to leave the country or at least further south to somewhere “more red.” After watching the troubled rally, it would be fair to say Mr Trump is currently the human embodiment of the words he shouted following the first attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“Fight, fight, fight.” Although many in the audience were “frustrated” because they wanted to hear from “the next President of the United States,” as most called him, they just wanted to be involved in the Trump-mania. The energy inside a Trump rally is beyond electric.
The crowd devours his every word, even when they can’t hear it. If the election was about parties, not political parties, Mr Trump’s is the only one you would want to attend. From energetic tunes like Party in the USA, or some more emotive subtle digs at the current administration like Time To Say Goodbye by Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli, the crowd were more engaged than a superstar’s music concert, even as he took his time coming out.
Tee shirts fired into the crowd from giant cannons and Trump fanatics got a moment of glory being featured dancing or dressed up on the big screen. Mr Trump was roughly two hours late for the rally in Wisconsin. He left a rally in Warren, Michigan after he was meant to start.
While speaking in Warren, Mr Trump doubled down on his earlier comments on former Republican congresswoman turned Ms Harris supporter Liz Cheney. On Friday, Mr Trump called the former Wyoming representative a “war hawk” and suggested she might not be as willing to send troops to fight when “guns are trained on her face”. “She always wants war.
She is a tough one,” Mr Trump said on Saturday. “But if you gave Liz Cheney a gun and put her into battle facing the other side with guns pointing at her, she wouldn’t have the courage, the strength or the stamina to look the enemy in the eye “She like Kamala is a stupid person. It’s easy for her to say she wants to start war from the comfort of her nice home.
” Unrest had begun to grow within the audience in Wisconsin as the wait time for Mr Trump blew out and about 9pm a man finally emerged, not Mr Trump, but Robert F. Kennedy Jr making a surprise appearance. RFK Jr was running as an independent in the 2024 US Election until he pulled out and threw his support behind Mr Trump.
“The only way you are going to see me in The White House is if you vote for Donald Trump,” he said. He passionately pleaded for votes, speaking about his desire to fix healthcare and stop the “mass poison” of Americans. “I started working on this issue 19 years ago.
I said a prayer to god to put me in a position where I could stop the chronic disease epidemic. God sent me Donald J Trump.” Mr Trump’s late arrival did appear to tarnish some Republican’s experience.
Some said they felt “disappointed” as they left the stadium, blaming his busy schedule for their reduced experience. A group of young voters who stopped at a local chicken shop left ecstatic about for Republican nominee’s visit to their city. Nick Gross, a college student, completely agrees with Mr Trump’s policies.
“I’m an everyday American citizen, plus I am a college student. “I am going to have to buy a house soon and I want a family. Under Trump, $75,000, under Kamala, $145,000.
These are things that affect day-to-day Americans, especially the young generation. “If I have kids, I don’t want them killed by MS15 gang members from Venezuela. We need to close the border.
” Mr Gross said he no longer believes in the US system and fears Ms Harris winning. “I don’t want it to happen,” he said. “I think they are going to rig the election,” he added, explaining the doubt cast over the 2020 result.
“I don’t think the woke left cares about American citizens. “They’re power-hungry. I think they’re going to do everything they can to win the election.
” Wisconsin is one of seven states seen as the most likely road to the White House. For years, political commentators have said to win the election you need to win Pennsylvania., but this election has changed that.
Pennsylvania’s importance is still relevant, but many now say Wisconsin is this election’s Pennsylvania. The idea must ring true with candidates too, as both held rallies in the same neighbourhood at the same time on Saturday. It is one of the highest races of the election.
A recent poll from 538 showed Ms Harris is leading the state of Wisconsin by just 0.8 points (48.2 per cent to 47.
4 per cent) The must-win state is still being called a toss up. Uber driver Maurice was in the area taking people home and couldn’t understand why people were out supporting Mr Trump. “He keeps saying ‘Make America Great Again’, but how was it great? America was never great.
The country has always mistreated people,” he said. “He does not accept he lost the election, and he told those people to tear up the capitol,” he added, referencing the January 6 riot. “You can’t rig an election,” explaining the ID hoops Americans must jump through before voting.
Maurice is a staunch supporter of Ms Harris but has not yet voted, citing a three-hour wait at most voting stations. “He got them fooled man,” he said. “They (Americans) got a stimulus check during the pandemic.
They think he is going to give them more money. “People are thinking about the money. No he can’t.
”.
