MESA, Ariz.—On the heels of the CNN Republican debate held in Las Vegas, Nevada, Tuesday night, GOP front-runner Donald Trump made an appearance at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport on Wednesday.
The rally was held in a private airplane hangar. The long line of supporters and attendees went out the door before the event opened at 10 a.m. By the time Trump arrived at 12:20 p.m. the hangar held thousands.
Trump made his arrival in his own private airplane and made his way past thousands of onlookers. Those in attendance stood inside the venue in anticipation of his arrival, while instrumental music played during the entrance.
As the plane circled back around, the door opened and Trump descended the stairs, waving to supporters.
After quickly greeting the supporters, Trump made his way to the stage where cameras, lights and a director’s chair waited for him. The candidate was scheduled for a live interview with Bill O’Reilly, host of the Fox News television talk show, The O’Reilly Factor.
O’Reilly asked questions regarding Trump’s performance at the GOP Debate in Las Vegas the day before.
After Trump’s interview, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio kicked off the rally commending the candidate’s national security ideas. Arpaio praised Trump for beginning a dialogue on illegal immigration.
“I’m sure he’ll do everything he has to do to protect the public—protect our country,” Arpaio said. “A lot of people won’t say it, but they support Donald Trump. They won’t tell you, but they go to that voting booth.”
At the rally, Trump mentioned the wall he plans to build around the U.S.-Mexico border, this time giving new specifications. Although Trump has offered to pay for the wall himself, he said on Wednesday that Mexico would be footing the bill.
He also made it clear that the wall would be an attractive addition to the border.
“And it’s going to be beautiful wall because someday they are going to name it after me,” Trump said. “And I want it to be beautiful.”
After cheers from the audience broke out in reaction to Trump’s idea on tackling illegal immigration, he introduced Jamiel Shaw. Shaw was the father of Jamiel Shaw Jr., a 17-year-old boy who was shot and killed by an undocumented immigrant.
“Illegal immigration has caused tremendous crime, has caused tremendous death,” Trump said.
Shaw joined Trump on stage and began to tell his story. He chronicled the day his son died, Shaw spoke about the moment he heard two gunshots in his neighborhood and saw the sight of his son dead in the street.
“On March 2, 2008, my son was shot to death in the streets like a dog by an illegal alien, [a] gangbanger, who was on his third gun charge,” Shaw said.
Shaw went on to give his support of Trump’s candidacy and what Shaw believes the front-runner can do for the U.S.
“That’s why we need Donald Trump. Donald Trump is going to make it safe again,” Shaw said. “It’s all about the illegal aliens, that’s all they care about. They don’t care about us as Americans. Why do we have to be under this oppression from illegal aliens? They’re getting the American dream, and we get the American nightmare.”
Trump also made his disapproval of the recent Iran nuclear deal clear.
“If I’m president, [Iran] won’t have nukes, I promise you that,” Trump said. “It doesn’t matter what the agreement says. I may have to violate that agreement slightly, you don’t mind, do you?”
The crowd cheered and whistled in support of Trump’s plan to ensure that Iran doesn’t have nuclear bombs.
Trump also solicited cheers from the crowd as he discussed gun control and the preservation of the Second Amendment. He argued that the results of the Paris attacks would have been less severe if people had been allowed to carry concealed weapons.
“If some of those people in Paris—probably number one place of anywhere in the world for gun control…If some of those people had a gun tied to their ankle or a gun tied right up here to their waist…they would have had a hell of a fighting chance,” he said.
Defending his proposal to ban all non-American Muslims from entering the U.S., Trump said he has great relationships with Muslims, including some very prominent Muslims with whom he shares partnerships.
“And they called me up and they said ‘Donald, you’ve done us a service. You really have done a great service,’” Trump said. “I was surprised to hear them say it, but they know much more than we do that they have a problem.”
Throughout his rally, Trump took jabs at both his Democrat and fellow Republican contenders, attacking his opponents’ competency on both sides.
“Hillary Clinton is a disaster,” Trump said. “Don’t forget, her and Obama helped get us into this mess. She doesn’t know what the hell she’s doing.”
Trump then commented on fellow Republican candidate Rand Paul, and his campaign for office.
“Rand Paul doesn’t have a chance, by the way what is Rand Paul doing,” Trump said. “How does this guy get reelected in Kentucky? I don’t get it, he’s a nasty guy.”
After spending much of the hour talking about his position in the polls in other parts of the country, Trump changed his focus to the local audience toward the end of the rally, discussing his plans on healthcare for veterans.
“We are going to take care of our great veterans better than ever, and we put in a plan and everybody loves it,” Trump said. “We’re taking care of our vets, we’re getting rid of Obamacare and we’re gonna come up with something that’s great.”
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