Bozeman, Montana, United States
Donald Trump has been a phenomenon in American politics for approximately
nine years now since he first announced he was running for president in 2015,
although he had some political involvement before mostly in terms of commentary.
During his 2016 and 2020 campaigns, he held numerous electrifying rallies with
huge crowds of supporters, many probably there as much for the show as for the
politics. I wasn’t completely sold on
Trump in 2016 but came around soon after, the evolution in my thinking driven
as much by radicalization on the Democrat side as Trump’s own message and rather
thin accomplishments. Within a few
months after Trump left office, I purchased a “TRUMP 2024 Take America Back”
tee shirt at a Republican meeting. I was
not expecting I’d get to wear it in three years time, but thought it would be
fun to troll with. Honestly, I was quite
open to an alternative candidate for president, but that didn’t happen. Again, my enthusiasm for Trump is partly
revulsion for the other side, but I was quite excited about his choice of J.D.
Vance as V.P. choice. It indicates he’s serious about burying for good the moribund
old “fusionist” Republican party.
The past two presidential election years, I had hoped that somehow
I’d be able to get to go to one of those big Trump rallies, largely for the
spectacle of it all. There are as much stand-up comedy shows as political
rallies. However, being based in New
Jersey in 2016 and Montana in 2020, no such opportunities arouse anywhere
around as neither is considered a “swing state”.
It struck me for a while that Trump might
possibly come to Montana sometime before November because there is a close U.S.
Senate race here this year.
Sure enough, on August 1st I got notification
that there was going to be a Trump rally in support of Senate candidate Tim Sheehy
eight days later on the 9th.
And it would be right near home in Bozeman. I quickly signed up for a ticket/reservation,
not that that means much more than getting you into the Trump campaign’s
database. On Monday morning I had a
meeting with chairman of Gallatin County Republicans. She asked me if I’d be interested in
volunteering for the event and then made some calls to get me on the volunteers
list. The benefit of doing so seemed to
me that it would ensure I’d be able to get into the relatively small indoor
venue without having to show up at crack of dawn for a place in line to wait
all day in the sun.
Through the week as the day of the rally approached, the
main roads leading into Bozeman became lined with traveling commercial vendors
hawking Trump gear – very overpriced Trump gear, I should add.
I’m game for
buying another hat, a shirt or two, some bumper stickers, or other
paraphernalia, but I’d rather purchase it from campaigns where the proceeds
actually go to help the candidate or local party. Volunteer orientation was held at Brick
Breeden Events Center the night before the rally, but it was really just about
when and where to report for duty the next day. Afterwards, I stopped at a new
(to me) brewery for a beer and calzone and met a group of people who had driven
all the way from Coeur D’Alene, Idaho for the rally.
If I hadn’t been volunteering, I had planned to get in line
first thing in the morning. With not
having to show up until 2:30, I arrived around noon to check out the crowds
outside the arena. Although we local
Republicans were told not to set up a table to sign people up or sell
merchandise, the area around the arena was filled with commercial vendors
selling theirs. You could tell there
were many thousands of people around, far more than the capacity of the
relatively small events center. There
was plenty of excitement in the air, though, on a the rather cool, sunny day.
We volunteers were escorted through the Secret Service
checkpoint before everyone else and had some leeway to choose which post we’d
take or function we’d perform. I quickly
raised my hand to work the entry doors onto the floor of the arena. What is the
court for basketball games or rink for rodeo can be placed full of chairs for events
like concerts, graduation, and in this case a political rally.
This was where the VIPs would sit, entering
with pink, blue, or white wristbands or handicapped status. A much larger section, some of the best seats
in the house in front of the podium, were for General Admission – the people
who arrived and got into line first thing in the morning. To them my volunteer
partner and I were giving green wrist bands until we ran out of them, which
would indicate floor seating was full and they would start filling up the
stadium seating. After that, we became
full bouncers, letting in and out those with appropriate wristbands while
keeping new arrivals from trying to enter the floor. It was a bit of a challenge at first, but
became easier over the next couple hours.
The Secret Service screening process is a slow one, or maybe
there were just an inadequate number of them assigned, because it took them
close to four hours to screen enough people the fill the arena to its capacity
of around 8,000, including floor seating.
Trump was scheduled to speak at 8:00 P.M., but his plane
Trmpforce One had some problems en route and had to land in Billings instead of
Bozeman.
My understanding is he had to
attend a big fundraiser at the Yellowstone Club at Big Sky before the rally and
was flown from Billings to West Yellowstone, his motorcade traveling the entire
distance between there, Big Sky, and Bozeman.
He arrived at the rally about an hour and a half late.
Things in general kicked off to a late start with pledge of
allegiance, national anthem, and speakers not starting until 7:00. There were the usual suspects of statewide
politicians and those running for top offices – Montana GOP Chair Dan
Kaltschmidt, Congressional candidate Troy Downing, Secretary of State Kristi
Jacobsen, Attorney General Austin Knudsen, and Congressman Ryan Zinke giving
the main speeches, mostly rather short. It was announced to roaring approval
that Trump was in the house.
That was followed by an intermission during which I
understand the VIPs were having their pictures taken with Trump. What does it take to get you picture taken
with Trump? Is it a $50,000 contribution
or a $100,000 contribution? We can only
guess.
In the meantime the crowd in the
arena became ever more raucous doing stadium waves and chanting “Fight, fight,
fight!” and “USA!”
By that point my duties at the door were over. They allowed extra people in a standing room
area on the back of the floor, and with my volunteer badge I was able to stand
at the back of the main seating area just in front of the press stage. I was able to get even closer for the latter
part of Trump’s speech after a few people left early opening up some prime
seats. Can you imagine waiting all day
to get in and then leaving before Great Leader’s speech was even over.
The second part of the show began with Governor Greg
Gianforte, currently running for reelection. He introduced the guy for whom the
rally was truly being held with Trump more of a special guest – Tim Sheehy, the
Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in a close race with 3-term incumbent John
Tester. The importance of the race is
that the balance of the Senate in the next two years may be determined by
it. Sheehy is a relatively young guy
with an impressive personal story as a Navy SEAL (similar to Ryan Zinke) and
for starting an aerial firefighting business in Montana that employs 200.
The audience was clearly electrified by his
speech – good but nothing compared to the master who followed him.
Trump arrived on stage about 9:45 P.M. to the blaring of “Proud
to Be An American”. He gave the crowd their money’s worth, which
for most of us was time rather than currency, going on for nearly an hour and
three quarters. It was punctuated
briefly by someone in the crowd falling ill, a pause some left-wing hacks later
claimed was unexplainable and an indicator of his dementia. There was also a break for Trump when Ronny
Jackson, the White House physician and now congressman from Texas who Trump tried
to appoint as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, came on stage for a special
personal attack on John Tester, revenge for Tester’s jettisoning of his
nomination.
Trump gave the expected and necessary accolades to Daines,
Gianforte, Zinke, Knudsen, and especially Sheehy, but most of his speech was
more of the stand-up comedy routine his fans expect from him, heavily laden
with personal insults on Biden’s senility, Harris’s lack of intelligence, and John
Tester’s obesity.
Many of the insults
were so petty that I found it a little shocking, but it is very entertaining
when people you despise are subjects of the ridicule they deserve. The crowd absolutely
eats it up. I suppose you can win a lot of people over if you can make them
laugh, to which I always add that “it’s not humor unless there’s a victim”.
The rally’s final finale was the refrain I understand Trump
used in 2016 and is using again this year, “We will make America strong again.
We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. We will make
America free again. And we will make America great again!” More and more of the crowd joined in as he
went through them, with the final line almost thunderous.
Well, something else checked off my to-do list. For
ages I’ve wanted to go to a Trump rally. It was certainly fun, but one is
probably enough. I am not such a Trump fan or groupie that I want to go to
more, especially considering the hassle of having to wait for ages just to get
in. An outdoor rally might be different
if Trump were to start holding them again, but the likelihood of that anywhere
near Bozeman this year is very low. But
if J.D. Vance comes to town sometime, I might go check him out.
2025-05-22