ROBSTOWN — People from around the country brought their concerns about inflation and border security to Robstown on Saturday for Donald Trump’s “Save America” rally.
For some it was their first Trump rally and for others it was yet another in a string of similar events. But for all in attendance at the Richard M. Borchard Regional Fairgrounds, there was a shared concern for the direction the nation has taken, regardless of what is going on in their lives ahead of November’s midterm election.
From early in the morning, anticipation for the event was apparent as various vendors selling Trump and Republican Party merchandise were in full force.
One of several Victoria residents to attend the rally was Bill Pozzi, Victoria County’s Republican Party chair.
This was Pozzi’s first Trump rally since becoming a fan of the former president as a delegate at the Republican National Convention in 2016.
Pozzi was surprised the rally wasn’t held in a bigger venue, thinking the nearby Whataburger Field would be a more appropriate venue given the crowd, he said.
“Sometime in Victoria we don’t have a lot of Trump fans,” Pozzi said. “Here, everybody is pro-Trump and it gets me excited to be around these type of people. It’s a feeling of excitement that we don’t have to ‘take it’ anymore and that we can do something positive for our country.”
While he expects the rally to help with the midterms, one thing that will galvanize people to vote is the increased costs of goods, he said.
“You go to H-E-B and you go to the aluminum foil aisle, you take a roll of 200 linear feet of aluminum foil, it use to be $4.83, now it’s over $9 a roll. That’s what’s galvanizing people,” Pozzi said.
Many in attendance shared Pozzi’s concerns about the economy, including Roberta Dobie, 65, Live Oak County Republican Party chair, and Houston resident Felicia Barkan, 58.
“We’re tired of the illegals, we’re tired of the high prices,” Dobbie said. “We can’t take another two years economically. As senior citizens, we’re losing too much money, investment money, and we don’t have a chance to make an income again.”
Barkan, an Astros fan, missed watching game 3 of the American League Championship Series to attend the rally, saying she needed to be at the rally out of a sense of dedication to her country and a sense of concern her grandchildren won’t enjoy the same freedoms she did growing up.
“I do not consider Joe Biden my president, not because I get into the whole stolen election thing, but because I don’t feel he has the mental capacity to be able to run a country. He can’t run his own bath water, how can he run a whole country.”
The rally itself had all the pomp and circumstance of a professional wrestling show, complete with video packages of various news clips detailing issues at stake for Republicans in November, entrance music and people decked out in clothes representing who they support. Hulk Hogan’s entrance music, “I am a Real American” by Rick Derringer, even played.
Those who spoke at the rally, including U.S. Rep Michael Cloud of Victoria, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton, focused on the importance of the upcoming election and on issues like the economy, border security and the belief that there is a need to reign in the Biden administration.
However, beyond stressing border security and contrasting his record with that of Biden, most of the former president’s comments focused on how he is aggrieved over previous scandals like the Steele Dossier, the fallout stemming from the rioting inside and out of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and his disproven claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential contest.
The former president detailed issues such as high gas prices, crime and the war between Russia and Ukraine, all of which he said wouldn’t have happened if he were still president and had remained in office, reiterating the discredited claims that he won in 2020
At the rally, the former president implied he would run again in 2024, but did not flat out say he would despite speakers throughout the afternoon urging him to make a bid to return to the Oval Office.
Trump also voiced his support and appreciation to Texas Republicans in attendances and urged his supporters to turn out to vote so they could keep Texas in GOP control and continue what he called the state’s “great work.”
Trump left the stage to the sound of “Hold on I’m Coming” by Sam and Dave.
Cloud, who the Victoria Advocate spoke to prior to Trump taking the stage, said rallies by the former president leave people more optimistic than they were when they arrived.
Thousands turnout to see Trump, and with the upcoming election his presence will help candidates along the border turn back the policies the Biden administration enacted, Cloud said. He said he blames Biden for high prices at the gas pump and in grocery stores.
“We need to win in November for the sake of the Americans that are suffering because of this administration’s policies,” Cloud said.
There were counterprotestors outside the fairgrounds, according to the Corpus Christi Caller Times.
The Nueces County Democratic Party helped organize a counterprotest near a key intersection that leads into the fairgrounds, according to the Caller Times. There, nearly 30 people held signs in support of Democratic candidates or in opposition to Trump. Nueces party Chair Rene Saenz said the local party’s effort was important to “show all sides” to rally participants.
“(Trump) tried to destroy democracy and we want people to recognize that’s not a joke,” Saenz said in an interview with the Caller Times. “It was something that has never happened before. We want to have that presence here because his presence is for 2024.”
While not at the rally Woodrow Wagner II, Victoria County Democratic Party chair, also offered his thoughts, particularly on Trump’s denial of the results of the 2020 election.
“Threats, self-absorption and lies are hallmarks of dictators and strongman leaders,” Wagner said. “These are not ingredients for effective leaders in the USA.”