Trump in Salt Lake City Images and Observations

me | Mar 19, 2016 | frankenMonkey

[frankenMonkey]

Trump in Salt Lake City Images and Observations

This was an event held on very short notice, less than 24 hours, and included a venue change. The reason Mr. Trump came was that with Little Marco out of the running, the state's 40 delegates are in play. If Cruz gets 50% of the vote, he gets all of the delegates, otherwise they are allocated proportionally. With The Mailman (not Karl Malone, Kashich) in play (thank you, Ohio), Mr. Trump can capture a nice chunk. Utah votes on Tuesday, and it is a combination of caucus and on-line (must be registered Republican) voting.

We arrived about 3 PM, doors open at 5, event scheduled to start at 7. A rather short line, very fun and engaging. Local media capturing shots and doing a few interviews. A lot of drive-by honks and hollers. Around 5 PM, people who had to work starting to show up, and the line grew verylong.



A beautiful early (crisp)spring day in SLC:



The event venue was very small, it's an old nightclub/disco if I recall. The event was originally planned for the State Fairgrounds, but negotiations fell through. But this small venue turned out to be great.



Veterans got to go to the head of line (rank has its privileges!) and as a result we at the front. Sweet!



The back of the room, with media. Note the balcony and folks hanging over. It was all part of the ambiance! I saw Corey Lewandowski and maybe Donald Jr. back here.



Ok, let's talk about the venue and crowd. It was fabulous! It was small, loud and raucous (in a great way). This was personal politics, in the old-timey tradition! All great fun, a lot of hoopin 'n hollerin'. In attendance were whites, blacks, latinos and some Navajo. And very good news, the crowd was at least 50% young people, in their 20s and 30s. This is indeed a movement, with great demographics. The only thing missing was the Foggy Bottom Boys!



About 8 PM Mr. Trump bounded on stage to the tune of "Y'all Ready For This!" It was Yuge! Spoke as usual, completely off-the-cuff, unrehearsed, hit all the key points. He plays off the crowd very well, having fun with Mitt and Mormons. And the crowd had lots of LDS, I was very surprised. Bodes well, I think. I was a love fest, people!



Which brings me to the media. The positives of the event were ignored. To hear it from the media, it was a battle zone. It was no such thing. They are indeed liars. Here's the lead image from the SL Tribune and Fox:



A great event. If anyone from the Trump organization is reading, I'd like to suggest a venue for the next visit, Smiths Field in Salt Lake. One of the best backdrops for a speech from T-45!

[frankenMonkey]

ah, typos...
It was a love fest and T-45 is Trump 45 for those of you in Rio Linda!

[Eddie01]

Thanks for the pics and writeup!

Went to the Grand Rapids ralley in Michigan. Thrilling.

Protestors and Trump’s handling was great. He belittled them for not putting up more of a fight. lol.

[orchestra]

Thanks for the pictures!

[trisham]

Great pics!

[20yearsofinternet]

I like how the media has decided that rent-a-mobs showing up to Trump rallies and trashing the place is no longer newsworthy. Not a peep on the frontpage of CNN today. Their bias is pathetic and transparent.

[Aria]

I hate the media. I watched Trump on youtube and had no idea that CNN was giving a split screen to the “protesters”.
Like they deserve it. Media is just inciting more of this behavior but they’d probably celebrate a nuclear bomb going off.

[Nacho Bidnith]

Great recap! Thanks for posting such an up close and personal report.

“Veterans go to the front of the line” tells me he’s telling the truth about he’ll take care of our service people.

I have a really good feeling about our future if we can get Trump elected as our next president.

[hoosiermama]

Wonderful report and pictures.
Thanks for representing We The Freepers!

So glad you got moved up as many people did not get inside.

[BigEdLB]

It was fun to watch from the comfort of my laptop screen.

[hoosiermama]

Isn’t modern technology great.......when it works!

[PghBaldy]

GREAT photos & report. Thank you.

[mabelkitty]

Thank you so much for sharing! I watched on Rightside last night. You are a great ground reporter.

Thank you for your service.

[scooby321]

Very Nice Pictures

[uncitizen]

Does anyone else think that photo of the man and woman shouting at each other looks fake?

[frankenMonkey]

All of the photos from the “clash” were framed and cropped to be very dramatic. A lot of wannabe pulitzer prizers in the media. All b.s.

[USS Alaska]

Thanks for the pix and first hand account, we FReepers appreciate the truth.

I know about the spankenmonkey but is this a frankenMonkey?

[HarleyLady27]

Great article and pictures, so proud you got to go...by the time they changed the venue, I had already made other plans...

Got to see the rally on CNN (ugh) but my neighbor and I had a good time...yes they had a split screen and we could see the “University of Utah’ students hitting the pinatas of Trump and the trash talk, so glad parents are paying this kind of money to educate their children in this manner...

All in all, I think it left a good impression on Utah, and Trump said he would return, he supports the ‘Solar Companies’ here in Utah and Don Jr. has many friends here...

GO.TRUMP.GO!!! ALL THE WAY TO THE OVAL OFFICE!!!

[frankenMonkey]

hah!
no, it goes way back when i was coding a game.
it involved Al Franken and a bunch of monkeys on the loose.
but I repeat myself...

[anoldafvet]

I lived in Bountiful for 9 years. Sure wish I was there now.