Trump: ‘I love this area’
Melissa Nelson Gabriel
PENSACOLA NEWS JOURNAL
With less than a week to go before Tuesday’s presidential election, Republican nominee Donald Trump urged thousands of Pensacola supporters Wednesday night to help him carry the crucial swing state of Florida.
“In six days, we are going to win the state of Florida and we are going to win the White House,” Trump said to massive applause from the crowd gathered at the Maritime Park Hunter Amphitheater.
In his third visit to Pensacola, Trump focused heavily on issues surrounding the FBI investigation of the private email server kept by Hillary Clinton when she was secretary of state.
“Hillary wants to blame everyone else for her mounting legal troubles but she has no one to blame but herself. She set up the illegal email server to hide her criminal activity,” Trump said to chants of “lock her up,” from the crowd of more than 5,000.
Trump said polls show Pensacola and the rest of the western Panhandle are solidly behind him. He said some advisers questioned his decision to come back to the city for a third visit. He said he wanted to show his gratitude to his most loyal supporters.
“I love this area,” Trump said. “My support here is through the roof.”
Trump also paid tribute to the Pensacola-based Blue Angels flight demonstration team.
“We will ensure the Blue Angels continue to inspire. I love those guys, I love the Blue Angels,” he said to extended applause from the crowd.
In another local reference, Trump said he would make sure the aging Pensacola Bay Bridge between Pensacola and Gulf Breeze is replaced.
Trump got louder applause when he suggested his Pensacola supporters might be happier about building the wall on the Mexican border.
It was the second time Chuck and Robin Woske of Pensacola attended a Trump rally. The couple previously attended a Trump rally in January at the Bay Center.
“I thought he was better this time. He sounds more presidential and I really liked that he mentioned the Blue Angels and even the 3-mile (Pensacola Bay) bridge,” Robin Woske said.
Her husband agreed.
“He still had a lot of energy, but he sounded more polished and more measured,” Chuck Woske said.
Misty and Julius Myrick of Milton and their five children, ages 5 through 15, were among the first people through the gates when the rally opened at 4.
Julius, an experienced construction worker who is looking for work, said the Obama years have not been good for his family.
“I really like Trump. I believe he is going to do exactly what he says. I feel like he is going to do what is best for the country,” he said.
Misty Myrick, who held a pink “Women for Trump” sign, said she was not concerned about controversial comments Trump has made about women.
“He doesn’t bother me. He says things that everyone says,” said the stay-at-home mom.
Hundreds of Trump supporters began to fill the open-air amphitheater just after 5 p.m.
Tim and Kim Barnett wore matching “Deplorables For Trump” T-shirts. The Summerdale, Alabama, couple said they made the 45-minute drive to see Trump in Pensacola because they wanted to see the Republican candidate in person.
Tim Barnett said he felt Clinton was talking about working-class people like him when she made her “basket of deplorables” comment about Trump supporters.
“She is snooty and elite,” said Barnett, a self-employed drywall contractor.
Many in the crowd wore “Make American Great Again” T-shirts and hats. Other Trump supporters carried “Hilary for Prison” signs.
Trump told the crowd he would reform a corrupt system in Washington through term limits and by banning foreign lobbyists from raising money in American elections.
Trump also said he would get rid of the Obamacare health plan and eliminate trade agreements he said are failing.
“Hillary is the candidate of yesterday. We are the movement of tomorrow,” he said.
Trump’s Pensacola rally followed earlier rallies in Miami and Orlando. He was scheduled to be in Jacksonville early Thursday before heading to Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
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http://www.pnj.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/11/02/trump-love-area/93173194/