MAGA fans streamed out of Donald Trump’s rally after in Michigan after the candidate was hours later after cutting cut a three-hour podcast interview with Joe Rogan in Texas.
That may have been a smart way for Trump to reach millions of listeners to Rogan’s popular podcast, but it left a few thousand fans watching videos in a chilly open air hangar as organizers stalled for time.
By the time Trump announced a three-hour-delay on Twitter, hundreds of supporters were already headed for the exits.
‘Where’s Trump?’ yelled one on the way out the door.
‘That was a waste of a day,’ said another disappointed attendee on the way to the door.
Trump apologized when he took the stage nearly three hours late.
MAGA fans poured out of Trump’s rally after waiting hours for him to appear
‘We got so tied up and we figured you wouldn’t mind too much because we’re trying to win,’ Trump said. ‘We had some other things – really important.’
‘I figured when I got here there’d be like 20 people,’ he said, before complaining about the ‘fake news’ media. ‘They never show the crowds,’ Trump said.
Then he took a shot at rival Kamala Harris, who was holding a big rally in Houston with Beyonce and Willie Nelson as Israel finally struck back at Iran. ‘You know where she is tonight? She’s out partying. Israel is attacking, we’ve got a war going on, and she’s out partying,’ Trump said.
The delay denied Trump the chance to try to seal the deal with hundreds of voters in a crucial battleground state, in a county where he can try to bank votes to counter Kamala Harris support downstate.
There had ben two medical incidents an hour into Trump’s remarks. The former president ordered an aide to play Ave Maria on the sound system. ‘Should we listen to a song while we wait?’ He added: ‘I want the doctors to take their time.’
The candidate also took his time, speaking for about an hour and 20 minutes, despite starting after 10 pm. Supporters were walking away throughout the last half of Trump’s remarks, often in a steady-stream.
Not all of Trump’s supporters who left the venue after the delay was announced were sore at him – and several contacted by DailyMail.com took it in stride.
Trump spoke for about an hour and 20 minutes, despite starting after 10 pm
‘I have to work really early in the morning,’ said Elizabeth Burkhardt, a cardiac stenographer. She got out of work at 2pm and came straight to the rally, only to leave about six hours later.
‘You’ll probably get a better seat,’ gas station worker Dee Johnson told her seven year old son, Jason, as she made plans to return after buying a sausage from a food truck. She drove up from Cadillac to see Trump after working a 60-hour shift.
Stephanie Drenth left temporarily with her young kids Moses and Dorthy to get a stroller out of her car with firm plans to return. ‘We’re already here, and it’s already past his bedtime,’ the registered nurse said.
Jeff, a real estate worker who flew up from Florida for the event at 6 am and sported a Santa outfit, wasn’t holding the delay against Trump. ‘Heck no, I’ve seen him before,’ he said.
Their trip for the exits came after the Trump campaign tried to stall by playing a long Tucker Carlson video with behind-the-scenes footage of Trump.
The video eventually froze, and the campaign switched to a slide show running ads for MAGA hats and campaign slogans.
By 8:45 pm, more than an hour after the scheduled start time, Montana Governor Doug Burgum camem out to read remarks. He joked about coming from a cold state and being impressed by the remaining crowd who weathered 50 degree temperatures.
The campaign played a video message from Trump announcing a three-hour delay
The campaign stalled by playing an extended behind-the-scenes video about Trump. But the video froze and it got replaced with a slideshow
‘I know that some had to leave because of family and kids – people that were here for 12 hours,’ said Burgum. ‘Thank you for being here.’
Speaking about Trump, the former presidential candidate said, ‘I know he feels bad that he’s late tonight.
‘I have been with him at two in the morning when he’s still working … He’s pumped up about coming to Michigan tonight!’
Then he called up to the stage defeated Michigan governor candidate Tudor Dixon.
‘We’ve got a special treat coming up – Tudor Dixon, she spoke to you earlier,’ as the pair stalled for time by creating what Dixon called a version of her podcast.
Trump was back in Michigan after a pair of polls Wednesday gave his rival the edge in a key piece of the Democrats’ ‘blue wall.’
Hundreds of supporters left after anticipating a Friday night with Trump
One rallygoer told DailyMail.com he flew in from Florida at 6am for the event, only to leave before Trump spoke
Harris leads Trump 49 to 46 in the latest Quinnipiac University’s poll of likely voters in Michigan.
A Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll the same day had Harris nearly at 50 percent, with Trump at 47 percent.
Trump narrowly won Grand Traverse County in 2020, but the city itself is a blue island in a lake of Republican support. He lost the state that year, having won it in 2016.
The state is older than average, has strong union support, and has more than 200,000 voters identifying as Arab-American.
Traverse City, where Trump held his rally at an airport hangar, is a vacation spot nestled on Grand Traverse Bay dotted with breweries and water sports opportunities.
Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the former Indianapolis mayor who is a chief Biden defender on Fox News, moved his home here after the election.
MAGA fans lined up to see Trump, in an event guarded by law enforcement bearing long guns
Jamin, a mechanical contractor, and his daughter Nora, came to hear Trump. Jamin said he saw Trump here four years ago
A sign called Election Day ‘the most important day in the history of our country
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Among those waiting to see Trump were Jamin, a mechanical contractor, and his daughter Nora. The father said he saw Trump here four years ago. He said the U.S. had lost part of its ‘stance in the world.’
‘We’re a superpower, and we need to act like that,’ he said. He didn’t outright endorse Trump’s signature proposal to try to stop illegal immigration. ‘I don’t know if that starts with a wall or not. But just not allowing so many illegal immigrants to just flow in freely. You know we’re certainly the land of the free, so they’re welcome to come. Us a port of entry, right? Like you’re supposed to.’
Also backing Trump on immigration is Hellade Gasparetti, who immigrated from Brazil in 2017. The caregiver works with elderly patients said immigrants in the country ‘do a lot for the country, too. We have our role, let’s say it that way, for the country. The problem is the immigrants that are not legal,’ she said.
She doesn’t adopt Trump’s own rhetoric of saying there was an ‘invasion’ of illegal immigrants consisting of criminals and ‘lunatics’ – a phrase he used Friday.
She said she backed Trump’s threat to deport illegal migrants. ‘I understand that, because it takes jobs from other people. It takes things from the legal ones,’ she said. But she allowed, ‘I don’t think all illegal are bad, because sometimes there are different reasons people became illegal. I cannot say they are bad, but there are bad in everything – legal and illegal.
Warming up the crowd of a few thousand for Trump was Michigan Rep. Jack Bergman, a few days after President Biden flubbed by saying ‘lock him up’ when discussing Trump. Biden quickly corrected himself to say lock him up ‘politically.’
‘You know eight years ago, what were we saying here about Hillary? What was that chant eight years ago? Lock her up, right?’ said Bergman, a retired Marine lieutenant general. ‘I remember leading that cheer. Well, how about this one? How about we just throw Harris out? Let’s hear it! Throw her out! Throw her out!’ he said, leading the crowd.