The man standing outside Manchester’s Verizon Arena was selling unofficial Trump buttons: $5 each, or 3 for $10. A small crowd had gathered to buy what they could.
“Hillary for Prison 2016” seemed to be popular, and “Bomb the Hell out of ISIS” buttons were running low. “Barack, you’re fired!” was an especially big hit.
This was my first taste of this unconventional political movement.
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As a member of the media, I had to be pre-selected before I could step foot inside one of Donald Trump’s events. After receiving word that we had been accredited, my cameraman and I stood outside in a howling snowstorm for over an hour, waiting to be checked off the guest list, while the Secret Service carefully examined all of our equipment.
Inside it was impossible not to notice the heavy police presence. Secret Service officers were everywhere, while heavily armed local police stood guard with automatic rifles slung over their shoulders.
Trump merchandise was flowing freely. “Make America Great Again!” bumper stickers were popular; “Veterans for Trump” were handing out signs and stickers too. As we stepped down into the bowl of the arena the stands were filling up with foam-finger waving Trump supporters.
The media riser – the area journalists are confined to — was like few I have ever seen. There were hundreds of broadcast journalists and their cameras along back of the arena, all craning for a view of the distant stage. We were practically on top of each other, with little room to move.
While the crowd waited for Trump, the PA system blared a playlist targeted at the baby-boomer crowd: Elton John’s Tiny Dancer, The Rolling Stones’ You Can’t Always Get What You Want, The Beatles’ Revolution.
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An announcement came on that Trump was running late due to the snowstorm. While we waited, the crowd was given instructions about what to do if a protester tried to interrupt Trump, after being assured that he was a firm supporter of the First Amendment right to free speech.
“Do not touch the protester,” the announcer implored. “Simply hold up your signs, and start chanting ‘Trump! Trump! Trump!’ until the protester is removed by law enforcement.”
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The music came back on, and we continued to sit and wait for Trump. By now we were into our third iteration of Tiny Dancer, but no one in the crowd seemed to care.
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I spent the time gathering interviews with supporters who were all on the same message track. They like Trump, because as they gladly explain, he tells it like it is. Just like Trump, they are all equally unapologetic about their own political views.
As the moment of Trump’s arrival neared, the video screen came to life. A highlight reel of his family, life and fortune played for the crowd.
The candidate took to the stage, and supporters took to their feet with wild applause.
The speech was exactly what you’d expect. Trump used a few loose notes, but spoke largely off-the-cuff. It was the message track we’ve heard hundreds of times before: build a wall with Mexico, defeat ISIS, the other candidates are “losers.”
Trump elicited gasps and cheers by repeating an audience member’s particularly vulgar insult about rival Ted Cruz. The crowd roared when Trump vowed that Americans would only say “Merry Christmas” if he became president. He called his wife and daughter up to the microphone so that both could speak to the masses.
Two Trump impersonators waded through the audience – Trump even called one of them up to the front of the room.
He urged people to get out and vote by making a crack about the snowstorm outside. “If you’re gonna drive like a maniac, do it tomorrow, after you vote,” said Trump to thunderous applause.
By the time it was all over, most people had given up a good four hours of their Tuesday night just for the chance to be in the same room as the blustery billionaire. It’s hard to imagine any other politician with that kind of star power.
As I walked out of the arena, back past the man selling buttons, I struck up a conversation with two strangers on the street corner.
They too had just left the event, but they were supporters of Democrat Bernie Sanders. When I asked why they came to see someone with views so opposite to their own, they admitted an undeniable truth.
It was the best show in town.
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