By Frank Brill, EnviroPolitics Editor
The doors to Wildwood’s Convention Center were opened at 3 p.m. today, much to the delight of the large and spirited gathering of the president’s supporters who have been milling together outside for hours (in some cases days), bundled up against a cold and gray day at the Jersey Shore.
Many will not be admitted for Trump’s 7 p.m. speech since the building’s legal occupancy level is around 7100 and the crowd outside far outstrips that number. Two jumbotron screens have been set up outside for the faithful who don’t make it inside.
Earlier story today:
Trump diehards, swaddled in blankets and memorabilia, queue up overnight in the cold hoping for a chance to see their guy tonight
Here are several updates from news sources that have been providing live coverage throughout the day.
‘It’s like an Eagles tailgate:’ Trump supporters share beers, brotherhood before Wildwood rally
(Philadelphia Inquirer)
For many people who came down to the Shore, the Trump rally has been more of a social gathering than a political one. People crowded into nearby bars, sharing laughs, buying each other beers, and sporting matching MAGA hats.
“It’s like an Eagles tailgate,” said Rich Duranto from Philadelphia, who has been walking through the crowds in a bright green Eagles track suit wearing a Trump mask he bought from CVS two years ago.
“It’s fun, it’s an event,” he said. “I’ll definitely be back.”
He loves Trump for his ability to entertain. He said that Trump lies sometimes, which bothers him, but he said usually they’re “just little lies.”“We all tell little lies. They all lie,” he said about politicians. “[Trump] is just the most entertaining liar.”
Jeff Bottari, 58, and Scott Wistar, 56, took off work early and drove from Landerberg, Pa. to witness their first rally.
“It’s like a brotherhood,” said Bottari, “we’re all in here buying each other beers.”
“It’s not divisive like people try to say,” said Wistar. The two friends have tickets to the event but said they didn’t want to wait in line and couldn’t arrive early enough. They wanted to come down to meet more Trump fans and show their support for the President who they said has been the “only candidate… that has delivered on all campaign promises.”
Donald and Melania Trump look-alike’s make their rounds, amping up bars full of supporters who’ve found the rally to be more of a social event than a political one.
Donald and Melania Trump look-alike’s make their rounds, amping up bars full of supporters who’ve found the rally to be more of a social event than a political one. pic.twitter.com/m0ZbhQHP7I— Ellie (@EllieRushing) January 28, 2020
— Ellie Rushing
‘Lock him up, lock her up:’ Trump fans and foes spar on the Wildwood Boardwalk
Hours before the rally, Trump protesters and supporters continue to shout at each other on the Wildwood Boardwalk, the Inquirer’s Amy Rosenberg reports.
“Lock him up”
“Lock her up.” #TrumpWildwood pic.twitter.com/p9IeTVePHd— Amy S. Rosenberg (@amysrosenberg) January 28, 2020
With cowbells, posters, flags, and baby Trump balloons, the two sides are verbally sparring, shouting “lock him up” and “lock her up” — a reference to 2016 Trump supporters’ preferred chant about Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Protesters says love no hate makes America great. Trump fans says no more BS. And “Four more years”
The great Wildwood Trump rally protest shout off. pic.twitter.com/euo6AyyUiw— Amy S. Rosenberg (@amysrosenberg) January 28, 2020
“This is what democracy looks like” protesters are shouting.
“Where’s Hunter?” Trump fans shout back. #trumpwildwood pic.twitter.com/ALG8XDRDGH— Amy S. Rosenberg (@amysrosenberg) January 28, 202
Wildwood’s Democratic mayor isn’t welcome at the Trump rally
By AMY S. ROSENBERG
Newly elected Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron, a Democrat, says he’s been banned from the Trump rally in his own town by Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a newly-minted Republican.
Byron ousted former mayor Ernie Troiano, a Trump acolyte, but had welcomed the president to his town as a historic and meaningful event, one he planned to attend. He also suggested he might seek reimbursement from the Republican Party for rally expenses.
In a conversation with Van Drew, Byron said he was told he wouldn’t be welcome. Troiano was given a VIP ticket.
“I was not invited,” Byron said Tuesday, hours before the rally. “I’ve been informed that Congressmen Van Drew and the President are upset with the fact that I said I think the city should be reimbursed.”
Byron said he told Van Drew he had shown respect for the rally, and that “you should show the same respect to me as the Mayor of the City of Wildwood. It shouldn’t be about I’m a Democrat or Republican.”
Byron said he still thinks the city should be reimbursed.
“I have no way of knowing what these costs will be,” he said. “These rallies can be pretty expensive. There’s a lot of overtime.”
He said the rally has been an economic boost to the seaside town and has led to national exposure. Byron said he would watch the rally but wouldn’t seek any alternate way inside the Wildwood Convention Center.
“I”m the Mayor,” he said. “Why should I have to sneak into an event in my hometown?” He said he was “very disappointed” in Van Drew, who he has known for years. “He’s still my Congressman and we need to have a relationship. The decision’s been made. This is his coming out party. You have a congressman and a president. Who else would he answer to?”
Earlier this month, after the rally was first announced, Byron said: “This isn’t about whether you’re Republican or Democrat. It isn’t even about the man. It’s about the position. … Check your affiliation at the door, and let’s just all participate in this monumental [and] exciting time for Wildwood.”
Trump’s N.J. Rally: Sold Out Hotels, Long Lines and Subpoena-Coladas (New York Times)
President Trump arrives Tuesday to hold a rally in the state — his first there since taking office — where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a million voters.
By Tracey Tully
WILDWOOD, N.J. — Joe Tartamosa’s second daybreak in an ever-growing line outside the convention center in Wildwood was a lot less pleasant than his first.
“It was brutal,” said Mr. Tartamosa, who spent the night in the cold, wind-whipped line with thousands of other ticket holders who were hoping to get inside for President Trump’s rally on Tuesday night. “I was probably a little ill-prepared.”
He and his 16-year-old son, Nick, had left their home in Woodbury Heights, N.J., to arrive at 4:30 a.m. Monday to lock in a spot close to the front.
He had plenty of company. About 12 hours before the rally’s 7 p.m. start, the line had spilled past the gates arranged in switchback lanes outside the convention hall and onto nearby streets.
Those at the very front of the line had arrived at about 2 p.m. on Sunday and had spent two days and nights bundled in blankets, “Keep America Great” flags and woolen Trump 2020 hats.
Still, the mood remained festive in Wildwood, one of the Jersey Shore’s most popular destinations, where Mr. Trump was planning to hold his first political rally in New Jersey since taking office.
“He’s the only president in my lifetime who actually did what he said he was going to do,” said Russ Hickman, 55, of Dias Creek, N.J., who was fifth in line on Monday afternoon.
Mr. Trump’s decision to stage one of his raucous rallies in Wildwood, motivated by a desire to support a local congressman who had recently switched parties, upended the usual rhythms of this beach community about 160 miles south of New York City.
Seasonal workers were back on the job. Motels have reopened and restaurants and bars have awaked from winter hibernation.
The LED lights on the towering Ferris wheel near the convention center have been specially programmed to pulse in patterns of red, white and blue.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, regardless of your political view,” Nick Holland, 29, said Monday as he worked the front desk of the local recreation center.
“Today I put up signs: Welcome Mr. President. I never thought I would do that in my lifetime,” he said. “You can feel the energy. It reminds me of Christmas Eve, and tomorrow Santa’s coming.”
As his impeachment trial unfolds in Washington, Mr. Trump is headed into what in some ways is enemy territory. New Jersey is a Democratic stronghold where Hillary Clinton easily beat him statewide by 14 percentage points and where a so-called blue wave helped to flip four Republican congressional seats in 2018.
Most of Mr. Trump’s campaign rallies have been held in states where a majority of voters supported him in 2016, and are critical battleground states ahead of this year’s election.
But Wildwood, in Cape May County, is in a district far more friendly to Republicans.
It leans conservative and is represented by Jeff Van Drew, a freshman congressman who opposed impeachment and last month defected from the Democratic Party to join the Republicans with a pledge of “undying support” for Mr. Trump.
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