A massive crowd of supporters gathered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, early Saturday morning to attend former President Donald Trump’s first rally since surviving an assassination attempt one week ago.
Videos taken over six hours before Trump is set to take the stage show thousands of people eagerly waiting in line, OANN’s Daniel Baldwin reported:
It’s 10:30am.
The line to see President Trump and @JDVance1 is MASSIVE.
Just thousands of people.
Michigan is making a statement. pic.twitter.com/U35T14JNmN
— Daniel Baldwin (@baldwin_daniel_) July 20, 2024
Another video taken later inside the venue shows the 12,000-seat Van Andel arena at full capacity:
Packed house.
The Trump Special. pic.twitter.com/J3BodbGZMO
— Daniel Baldwin (@baldwin_daniel_) July 20, 2024
WZZM13 spoke with several fans of the former president, who is also taking new vice presidential nominee JD Vance out on the rally stage for the first time.
Edward X. Young, of New Jersey, came straight to Grand Rapids from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
He spent the night in a folding chair outside the arena.
“It was kind of cold at three in the morning, and I was dressed light, but it’s worth it,” Young, who has already been to 80 Trump rallies, said.
“The humor is out of it now. This is very serious. This is the first rally since the attempt to kill him and we have to get here to show our support,” he continued. “We didn’t flinch. We didn’t run and we’re not going to stop coming to the rallies.”
Kathleen Smilie also drove into the city early to get a chance to see Trump and Vance.
“We missed out on the last one in Muskegon, so we left early. We packed our snacks. We’re here. We really want to see Trump and see Vance. We watched the movie,” she said in reference to Hillbilly Elegy, the movie based on Vance’s memoir.
The Ron Howard-directed film has been trending on Netflix since Trump announced the book’s author as his running mate earlier this week, Breitbart News reported.
“Good movie, so we’re interested in Vance now,” Smilie said.
Randy Ritsema brought his children to see the rally. According to him, Trump’s triumphant reaction to being shot during last Saturday’s Butler, Pennsylvania, rally makes him a “shoo-in” to win the election.
“He’s going to be the president. That’s my opinion, but I think it’s a wrap. I don’t think Biden stands a chance.”