In a moment of showmanship, President Donald Trump brought a supporter, Gene Huber, on stage at his Melbourne, Florida rally, even hugging the man at one point, and turning over his microphone to him.
“A star is born,” the president, declared of Huber, at the February 18 event that mirrored one of the president’s campaign rallies.
Watch the moment above.
Some are theorizing that Huber was a plant because he posted on Facebook recently from a Trump winery, the White House, Trump’s golf course, and other Trump properties. That wouldn’t necessarily mean he wasn’t a Trump supporter (his fandom on social media goes way back). However, it could mean the moment was not as spontaneous as it initially appeared. (Read more about Huber and his posts here.)
Huber also made an odd Facebook post on February 14, in which he claimed the president called him.
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He wrote, “I Guess Our Great President knows how much I Love Him, and Support Him every Second! I Thought it was my Boss Tommy Connor calling me, nope Just Our Smart Leader giving me a Call!”
There’s no question that Huber is a major super fan. On CNN after the rally, Huber said, “I’ve been with Mr. President Trump for over two years…” He said that Trump saw him on TV, and Huber said he “loved” Trump “with all his heart.” He said of a life-size cardboard cutout he has at home of Trump: “I salute that every single day.”
On Facebook, Huber indicates he’s a car salesman from Boynton Beach, Florida, who is married and from New York.
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Gene Huber. (Twitter)
His social media pages are filled with odes to Trump. He frequently retweets posts favorable to the president or advancing his narratives on the news media and other topics. In fact, his Twitter profile picture is of Huber with a life-size cardboard cut out of Trump.
It all started with the president looking out into the crowd at his rally and saying, “Look at this guy. Look at this guy. This guy is great. …Come on up. Come here.”
The supporter ran on stage and Trump hugged him.
“This guy,” the president said. “So, he’s been all over television saying the best things, and I see him standing. Didn’t you get here at 4 in the morning? Say a couple of words to this crowd.”
The supporter, who was wearing a President Donald Trump T-shirt, took the microphone and said, “Mr. President, thank you, sir. We the people, our movement is the reason why our president of the United States is standing here in front of us today. When President Trump during the election promised all these things that he was going to do for us, I knew he was going to do this for us.”
Trump shook his hand.
“Mr. President, thank you so much sir,” Huber said.
“A star is born,” said Trump, who has arguably the biggest bully pulpit in the world.
“A star is born.”
Huber spoke to the media before the rally and had explained that he was first in line. “I was in line at 4 a.m. this morning, all by my lonesome,” he revealed. Watch:
Here are some of the tweets and photos of the moment between Huber and the president:
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