With no protesters in sight, thousands of eager voters snaked their way through a parking lot before packing into a raucous Ocala stadium Wednesday to hear Donald Trump speak.
At a political rally held at noon at the Southeastern Livestock Pavilion, about 15,000 of the Republican presidential candidate’s supporters cheered and clapped as Trump took the stage, the patriotic anthem “Proud to be an American” leading him there.
In his hour-long speech, Trump touched on education, trade and energy reform while criticizing President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, whom he called a liar and the most corrupt person to ever seek the presidency.
He told the attendees, many dressed in red Trump memorabilia, that he was embarrassed with the current state of the country and that this would be the last time voters could change the “rigged” U.S. political system.
“Whether I win, lose or draw, I’m ashamed of what’s happened to our country — and so are you,” Trump said.
Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, introduced Trump. Giuliani told the crowd the movement Trump started a year ago has grown into something special.
Giuliani, too, took aim at Clinton, claiming he didn’t remember seeing the then-New York senator in New York City following the 9/11 terror attacks — despite them being photographed together.
At about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, nearly 14 hours before the rally began, Kandy Christiansen waited outside the venue for a chance to let her children, 13 and 15, see who she hopes will be president.
“What really motivated me to come is my children,” the 53-year-old said, wearing a pink shirt that read “Ladies for Trump.”
As she stood in line, Ana Barber said she was reminded of the time she met Trump 10 years ago in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
“He is a sweetheart,” she said. “He is not what they portray him to be.”
Barber said that meeting is the reason why she wasn’t upset by the recently leaked audio of lewd comments Trump made 11 years ago on an “Access Hollywood” bus. The tapes were released Friday by The Washington Post.
In the video, Trump is heard telling the then-host of the show that his “star” status enabled him to make sexual advances on women without their consent, including kissing them and grabbing them “by the p----.”
“Any man that says he’s never said that before is a liar,” Barber said.
Self-proclaimed “Trump Twins” Nora Kuehn and Kora Frontin, both 69, said the outrage over the “Access Hollywood” tape was much ado about nothing.
Frontin called the people offended “goody-two-shoes on their high horse.” Her sister agreed.
“Women have a tendency to throw themselves at these men,” Kuehn said.
Diverting attention from the leaked comments, Trump spent much of his time discussing WikiLeaks’ recent release of thousands of Democratic Party emails, which he said show that Clinton may have received an unfair advantage prior to their televised town-hall debate.
He said one of her staff members participated in sensitive conversations with the Department of Justice about the release of Clinton’s emails, which were sent using a private server.
Trump also leveled blows at his own party, criticizing House Speaker Paul Ryan, a fellow Republican, for not supporting his candidacy. At one point, he went as far as to theorize the existence of “sinister” plots to undermine his campaign — plots he vowed to unearth.
Regarding the threat of terrorism, primarily from ISIS, Trump said the terrorist group hopes Clinton becomes president, adding that she intends to increase the amount of Syrian refugees the U.S. admits by 550 percent.
“This will finally be the year the American people say, ‘Enough is enough,’” Trump said.
