On Saturday, Former President Donald Trump will be holding the first official political rally of his 2024 presidential campaign… and the media have become apoplectic.
Mary Trump, the former president’s Twitter-addicted niece, even tweeted a plan to sabotage his rally. It’ll make your eyes roll.
Trump set to speak Saturday at the regional airport in Waco, Texas — a midway point between many major Texas cities. It also happens to be near the site of a deadly standoff between law enforcement and the Branch Davidians, a violent cult.
Given the location of the rally, Trump’s niece has accused him of pandering to radicals. She even encouraged her followers to sabotage the rally by getting tickets and not showing up.
“Donald has a rally in Waco this Saturday,” the niece remarked. “It’s a ploy to remind his cult of the infamous Waco siege of 1993, where an anti-government cult battled the FBI. Scores of people died. He wants the same violent chaos to rescue him from justice. But we can stop him. If we book the 50,000+ venue, we can make sure most of the seats are empty when the traitor takes the stage. ”
The former president claims, much more plausibly, that he is speaking in Waco because of the town’s central location.
“It is centrally located to all four of Texas’ biggest metropolitan areas—Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio—while providing the necessary infrastructure to hold a rally of this magnitude,” Trump spokesman Stephen Cheung told Newsweek in an email Thursday. “This is the ideal location to have as many supporters from across the state and in neighboring states attend this historic rally.”
Some media have slammed Trump for holding the rally on the 30th anniversary of the siege. However, the siege lasted more than a month, and the “anniversary” encompasses the entire month of March.
“The date falls in the middle of the 30th anniversary of the weekslong standoff,” The New York Times wrote. “Mr. Trump has not linked his Waco visit to the anniversary [but] the rally comes amid a spate of increasingly aggressive statements by Mr. Trump claiming his persecution at the hands of prosecutors.”
Trump has already visited other states. On Monday, he took his first trip to Iowa, which will hold the Republican Party’s first nominating contest.
Plus, Trump has made numerous visits to the Lone Star State over the years, and Waco is part of McLennan County, which Trump won in 2020 by more than 23 points.
The former president also boasts a large following statewide, increasing the chances of a packed house.
The rally comes as Trump is facing the possibility of becoming the first former president in U.S. history to be indicted, with law enforcement officials in New York currently making security preparations for the possibility of legal action in the coming weeks.
Donald has a rally in Waco this Saturday. It's a ploy to remind his cult of the infamous Waco siege of 1993, where an anti-government cult battled the FBI. Scores of people died. He wants the same violent chaos to rescue him from justice.
But we can stop him. If we book the… pic.twitter.com/a5zCIfCVAZ
— Mary L. Trump (@MaryLTrump) March 24, 2023
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article.