President Donald Trump hosted an unofficial “rally” event on the evening of Saturday, September 12 in Minden, Nevada. The large event was originally supposed to be in Reno, but the location was moved and at least 5,000 people were there, according to local media. Trump just hosted another event two days earlier in Michigan that was attended by more than 5,500 a couple of days earlier. Here’s a look at crowd photos, overflow photos, videos, and more details about how many people attended the event.
To see photos and crowd estimates from Trump’s September 13 indoor rally in Henderson near Las Vegas, see Heavy’s story here. To see photos of Trump’s September 17 Mosinee, Wisconsin rally, see Heavy’s story here.
At Least 5,000 People Were Packed on the Tarmac for the Nevada Event
GettySupporters listen to President Donald Trump speak during a campaign rally at the Minden-Tahoe airport.
The rally started at 7 p.m. Pacific at the Minden-Taho Airport in Nevada on September 12. The event was originally supposed to be at the Reno-Taho Airport Authority at a hangar, but officials said that private tenants were told that a 5,000-person rally would violate COVID-19 regulations, My News 4 reported. Nevada gatherings are supposed to be limited to 50 people or fewer, so the rally’s location was changed.
Although Trump said the crowd numbered at about 25,000, the Reno Gazette Journal estimated that the crowd numbered around at least 5,000 and was packed closely together.
Here’s a crowd photo from the night, shared by Tabitha Mueller from the NV Indy.
One more photo…
This next photo tweeted by Paul Boger of KUNR Public Radio shows about half of the crowd. He said “thousands” were at the airport to see Trump.
Thousands have gathered at Minden-Tahoe Airport to see @realDonaldTrump‘s first campaign stop in Nevada since the start of the pandemic. This is less than half the crowd.
Democrats had a call on Saturday warning that crowds that large might be harmful during a pandemic. Trump has another Nevada rally event planned for Sunday.
President Trump has arrived at the Minden-Tahoe Airport.
WATCH LIVE: t.co/NhBnLIYmDt
Here’s another look at the crowd.
VIDEO: Large crowd cheers as snipers get set on top of semi trucks parked around the airport in Minden, Nevada ahead the Trump rally to begin shortly. The President landed moments ago.
During part of his rally, Trump talked about damage caused by Antifa, while also boasting about the size of the crowd at his event. He also asked the crowd who there was “pro-life” and the attendees responded with cheers.
GettyPresident Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally.
CNN reported that few at the rally were wearing masks or social distancing. The Columbia Bugle, a conservative publication, tweeted that his rallies look like rock concerts and showed a crowd in Minden rushing to attend the event.
Trump Rallys are like rock concerts. #NevadaRally
Mark Meredith of Fox News said the rally was packed and some came from California to attend.
It is absolutely packed at the Minden-Tahoe airport ahead of the president’s rally tonight. Several attendees tell me they came from nearby California. Nevada is a battleground state Trump lost in 2016 but remains competitive in 2020.
Trump spoke about his opponent Joe Biden quite a bit during the rally, claiming that the “mob wins” if Biden wins. He referred to Biden as “sleepy Joe” and said this election is more important than the one four years ago.
In the photo below, you can see some people wearing official Trump campaign masks along with the Make America Great Again hats.
GettySupporters wait for US President Donald Trump.
At the end of Trump’s speech, the crowd began to sing and dance, Mueller tweeted. She shared earlier that she could see pollution and smoke from the forest fires filtering through the rally’s flood lights during the event.
Crowd breaks out into song and dance at the end of Trump’s speech.
She also noted that contrary to claims during the rally, Nevada has a “rigorous signature verification process” for ballots.
Also, just want to make a note that even though Trump says Nevada doesn’t have verification on ballots, he’s wrong. There is a rigorous signature verification process.
Dan Scavino, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications and Director of Social Media, shared these photos:
🚨𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐍𝐎𝐖‼️
President @realDonaldTrump speaking to Great American Patriots in Minden, Nevada at a MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN RALLY!
Trump Will Be Speaking Sunday in Las Vegas
GettyPresident Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally.
Trump is scheduled to host another event on Sunday, September 13, in Las Vegas, Nevada. He’ll be at Cirrus Aviation at 5050 Koval Lane. The event begins at 7 p.m. Pacific time (the time shows as 6 p.m. Pacific on the website until you click on the event, and then it reads 7 p.m. Pacific.) These events are being called “Great American Comeback Events” on his campaign website.
A “Latinos for Trump” roundtable is scheduled for 1 p.m. Eastern on Sunday in Las Vegas, before his unofficial rally.
He’ll then be at a “Great American Comeback Event” on September 18 in Bemidji, Minnesota, at 4 p.m. Central time.
Trump will also host a comeback rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin, on September 18 at 7 p.m. Central time.
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