President-Elect Donald Trump will hold an event in Orlando, Florida this evening.
Trump will speak from the Central Florida Fairgrounds beginning at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. He will be introduced by Vice President-Elect Mike Pence, and the entire rally can be watched live in the embedded YouTube player via Right Side Broadcasting.
This rally comes as part of President-Elect Trump’s “USA Thank You Tour 2016,” a series of stops in states that helped Trump to win on Election Day. It is his first visit to Florida since being elected president, and he will surely be showing enormous gratitude to this state without which his path to 270 Electoral College votes would be far more narrow. Had Hillary Clinton taken Florida, Donald Trump would be down to 277 electors, meaning that if he also lost a smaller state like Wisconsin or Michigan, Hillary Clinton would have become president.
Orlando itself, however, is heavily Democratic; Hillary Clinton won 50.9 percent of the vote in Orange County, where Orlando is located.
Joining Trump for this rally will be Florida Governor Rick Scott, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Governor Scott backed Trump during the presidential campaign but did not appear at his rallies. Lately, some politicians who did not more eagerly support Trump during the election have been receiving a negative reaction at Trump events, including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who was booed by the audience at a recent Trump event in Wisconsin.
It would also not be surprising to see Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi at this rally, as Bondi was a passionate Trump supporter during the election and appeared at several of his Florida events.
Throughout the month of December, President-Elect Donald Trump has been using his “thank you” rallies in part to show his appreciation for those who voted for him but also to get his message across to the American people in his own unique way. In particular, Trump often responds to media criticism at these events without having to face any challenging questions. At a recent Wisconsin rally, for instance, the president-elect defended his choice of ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson for secretary of state.
“Rex is one of the greatest and most skilled global business leaders of our time,” Trump said. “…People are looking at his resume and honestly, they’ve never seen a resume like this before. Rex will be a fierce advocate for America’s interests around the world and has the insights and talents necessary to help reverse years of foreign policy blunders and disasters.”
The next event Trump has scheduled after this Orlando rally will take place on Saturday afternoon in Mobile, Alabama.