Donald Trump Rallies Supporters in Waco Amid Legal Woes
Former President Donald Trump made his first public appearance in a week at an airfield rally in Waco, Texas, where he spoke out against the multiple criminal inquiries being conducted against him since he left office in January 2021. Trump called out the New York City investigation into hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels as an expletive, and belittled Daniels’ personal appearance.
During the rally, Trump professed that he was “the most innocent man in the history of our country”, despite his personal, financial, and business life being “turned upside down and dissected”. He has been posting increasingly menacing statements about “death and destruction” if he is indicted on his social media website.
The rally felt like the carnival atmosphere campaign rallies of Trump’s 2016 presidential bid, with supporters of Trump buying “God, guns, and Trump” t-shirts and packing onto the asphalt tarmac of the local airport hours before Trump’s private jet was scheduled to land.
The crowd, which the Trump campaign estimated would reach 15,000, offered some boos when New York City District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s name was mentioned, but few were concerned by the New York investigation. Trump supporters who stormed the US Capitol on 6 January, 2021, also drew obscenity-laced diatribes from rock star Ted Nugent and Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia lobbed pointed attacks on Alvin Bragg.
Despite these potential negative factors, Trump supporters like Debbie Harvey of Midlothian, Texas, expressed positivity and hope. “I’m praying that he doesn’t get indicted,” Harvey said. “God still answers prayers.” Brian Novie, who lives in nearby Copperas Cove, said there doesn’t seem to be much to the charges leveled against Trump, and he believes the former president can get things done.
In the run-up to the Waco rally, the media questioned Trump’s choice of location, given that 30 years ago in Waco, federal and state authorities engaged in an armed standoff with the Branch Davidian religious cult that ended with the death of 86 people. Trump’s new “Trump Force One” arrived early evening with a dramatic airfield landing he made a signature of his campaigns in 2016 and 2020.
Despite his legal woes looming, Trump promised his supporters a bright future for America if he is re-elected. However, it was clear that his legal troubles and possible impending arrest were foremost on his mind during his appearance.
