Donald Trump received a warm welcome from fans in South Carolina after heading to Williams-Brice Stadium for the school’s rivalry football matchup with Clemson.
The 5-6 Gamecocks were hosting the 7-4 Tigers in the conservative-leaning state that former US President Trump won in both 2016 and 2020.
While the bulk of voters in South Carolina are Republicans, USC also happens to be in Richland county, which overwhelmingly voted for his presidential rivals Joe Biden in 2020 and Hillary Clinton in 2016.
However, fans in attendance at Saturday night’s Palmetto State rivalry game were certainly pleased to see Trump, who drew cheers as he waved to the crowd from his seat before the game.
When he first arrived at the venue, fans who gathered for the annual Palmetto Bowl, the state’s biggest sporting event of the year, could be heard chanting ‘We want Trump! We want Trump!’
Donald Trump had a warm welcome in South Carolina after heading to Williams-Brice Stadium
The former US President was in the house for South Carolina’s game against Clemson
The 5-6 Gamecocks were hosting the 7-4 Tigers in the conservative-leaning state that Trump won in both 2016 and 2020
Fans in attendance at Saturday night’s Palmetto State rivalry game were certainly pleased to see Trump
The 77-year-old was seen lapping up the reception in fan footage from Williams-Brice Stadium, where he was aiming to upstage Republican opponent Nikki Haley on her home turf.
Haley, a Clemson alumna and trustee who was twice elected South Carolina governor, did not attend.
Trump – who was a guest of Gov. Henry McMaster, Haley’s successor – also walked out onto the field at the halftime break, which sparked a similarly rapturous reception from the home crowd.
His entourage on the night, which entered through a veritable tunnel of Trump supporters on its way to a private suite, also included South Carolina’s senior U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, giving the former president a show of local political force at a game featuring Haley’s alma mater, Clemson, where she is also a member of the board of trustees.
Trump has made regular pilgrimages to college football games in recent years, attending an Iowa State game in September as well as several other SEC matchups, national championship games and Army-Navy battles during his only term in office.
As tens of thousands of Gamecock and Tiger fans gathered around the stadium on Saturday afternoon, more than a half-dozen electronic billboards around the capital city of Columbia boasted a message noting his 2020 election loss and his pending legal cases. ‘You lost. You’re guilty. Welcome to Columbia, Donald.’
Some vendors around the venue, meanwhile, hawked Trump-related merchandise, including ‘Trump 2020’ flags, from the previous election cycle.
Trump comes from New York, an area known to prefer the NFL, and did not attend a college football powerhouse (his alma mater, Penn, is in sixth place in the Ivy League at 3-4).
However, he has embraced college football crowds in the South and Midwest, where he’s traditionally been received very well
When he first arrived at the venue, fans who gathered for the annual Palmetto Bowl could be heard chanting ‘We want Trump! We want Trump!’
Trump has embraced college football crowds in the South and Midwest, where he’s traditionally been received very well
Trump as a guest of Gov. Henry McMaster, Republican opponent Nikki Haley’s successor
And recently, the presumptive Republican candidate for 2024 got a standing ovation at UFC 295 in New York, where he appeared next to promoter Dana White, conservative media personality Tucker Calrson, and musician Kid Rock.
He was spotted talking to singer Kid Rock near the Octagon, while comedian and actor Bill Burr was also in the crowd alongside actor Jared Leto and UFC royalty, including Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier.
There had been speculation all week that he would be at the event, and the crowd got their wish shortly before the start of the main card as Trump made his grand entrance.
But the former president is currently embroiled in a number of legal battles, including a civil fraud trial in New York and four criminal indictments.
Two relate to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, while one relates to his handling of classified documents and another involving accusations of false accounting involving hush money.
Trump was even on the stand earlier this month as part of the civil fraud trial in New York.