Trump draws large crowd to rally on Mississippi Gulf Coast
BILOXI, MS (WLOX)
It was a late Happy New Year celebration for Donald Trump fans: More than 13,000 supporters cheered for the Republican Party's presidential front runner's conservative message at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum Saturday.
It may have been a chilly night, but the reception was warm. Paulette Delcasale flew in from Atlanta to be in Biloxi for the rally; her 10th so far.
“Not only do I hear him now, but I’m listening to what he has said over the past three or four decades,” Delcasale said. “He’s a little brazen about it now, of course, but the message is still the same.”
Delcasale says Trump's controversial remarks are taken out of context.
“The comments that are spread all over the news and social media, they are soundbites that belong in a larger picture of the message that he’s getting out," Delcasale noted.
It’s a message that resonates with Vincent Higginbotham of Ocean Springs, who made himself right at home during his wait in line.
“Donald Trump can’t be bought,” Higginbotham said. “And the people that don’t like him want him to be politically correct and say all just the right things, but he doesn’t care about those people. He says what’s on his mind. He says the things that I have been thinking for years and years.”
The long line was just a good excuse for some to have a good time. It brought out the faithful, it brought out memorabilia and brought out the politics; including those of Paul’s Pastry owner Sherri Thigpen.
“Well, he’s very different. He’s refreshing. He’s honest. He says all the things we want to say. ... I want to hear him for myself and not just the news bites on television," said Thigpen.
The upcoming election will be the first election to vote for 18-year-old Courtney Freeman.
“He speaks the truth. Speaks what I like to hear,” she said. “I feel like he can change this country. Make it better.”
Trump's campaign staff said more than 13,000 tickets were requested for the event, and security estimates that just about that many attended. Trump mentioned at the beginning of his speech that there was a overflow crowd, and those who couldn't make it in were allowed to watch from the convention center next door. But Coliseum officials said that wasn't true, and the convention center was not needed, nor opened.
Even with 13,000 supporters inside the Coliseum, groups of protesters gathered outside.
Mississippi's presidential primary is March 8. Trump and other GOP candidates have until Jan. 15 to qualify for the primary.