A campaign reporter returns to cover Trump
The president has been holding rallies to fire up his base.
Fort Myers, Florida -- In 2016, if Donald Trump was campaigning, I was right there. I attended every rally and was on the road for more than 500 days. My last rally was in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a frigid night that did not end until right before the polls opened.
It was time to return. So here I was in Florida, attending my first Trump rally in two years.
As I stood and waited in the infamous press pen, a woman in the crowd smiled at me. As I walked toward her the smile disappeared.
“Are you phony media?” she asked.
“Do you consider ABC phony?” I responded. She nodded. We started talking. She told me her main source of news is the One America News Network.
“They just give the facts,” she said. How does she know the facts are accurate?
“I just do,” she replied. We spoke about the Florida race; Gayle, who would only divulge her first name, believes Republican Rick Scott will win the Senate seat in the state.
Democrats are making a mistake on health care, she said. She does not want the caravan full of undocumented immigrants to enter the country. "Who's going to pay?" she asked me. Then she pointed at herself. "Not happening," she said.
After our discussion I walked around the arena. The sights were familiar.
A lot of red hats and shirts. The president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, is the face of the campaign. Attendees watched videos of her talking about how small businesses are thriving under the current administration.
During the president's 2016 campaign I kept track of the new signs I would see supporters hold up. An always familiar one was "Build the Wall."
Now, the sign has evolved to "Finish the Wall."
Thursday's rally was similar yet different from the ones in New Hampshire and Michigan. The energy level was greater and at times more intense. A man in a Space Force shirt tossed beach balls into the fired-up crowd. Trump's supporters seemed angrier than I can recall -- but not with the man. Everyone in that arena was anti-media, seizing on the president's "Fake News" words. But at least Gayle waved at me as she shouted.
The rally was intended to get Republicans fired up before the midterms but the real intention was pretty clear. At one point a man asked me where the snack stand was located. I pointed. He thanked me, tipping his hat that read “Keep America Great 2020.”
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