MAGA fans who waited hours in the cold temperatures of northern Michigan were leaving Donald Trump’s rally after he cut short a three-hour podcast interview with Joe Rogan in Texas.
That may have been a smart way to reach millions of listeners of Rogan’s popular podcast, but it left a few thousand fans watching videos in an outdoor hangar before word spread that Trump would be late.
When Trump announced a three-hour delay on Twitter, hundreds of supporters were already heading for the exits.
‘Where is Trump?’ one shouted as he walked out the door.
“It was a wasted day,” said another disappointed attendee.
The delay denied Trump the opportunity to try to seal the deal with hundreds of voters in a crucial battleground state, in a county where he can try to accumulate votes to counter pressure from Kamala Harris in the south of the state.
Not all Trump supporters who left the venue were angry with him, and several contacted by DailyMail.com took it in stride.
MAGA fans left Trump’s rally after waiting hours for him to appear.
“I have to work very early in the morning,” said Elizabeth Burkhardt, a cardiac stenographer. He left work at 2 in the afternoon and came directly to the demonstration, leaving about six hours later.
“You’ll probably get a better seat,” gas station worker Dee Johnson told her 7-year-old son, Jason, as she made plans to return after purchasing a hot dog from a food truck. He drove from Cadillac to see Trump after working a 60-hour shift.
Stephanie Drenth left temporarily with her young children Moses and Dorthy to get a stroller out of her car with firm plans to return. “We’re here and it’s past your bedtime,” the registered nurse said.
Jeff, a real estate worker who flew in from Florida for the 6 a.m. event and was sporting a Santa suit, didn’t fault Trump for the delay. “Hell no, I’ve seen it before,” he said.
Their trip to the exits came after the Trump campaign attempted to stall by playing a lengthy Tucker Carlson video featuring behind-the-scenes footage of Trump.
The video eventually froze and the campaign switched to a slideshow with ads for MAGA hats and campaign slogans.
At 8:45 p.m., more than an hour after the scheduled start time, Montana Governor Doug Burgum came out to read remarks. He joked about coming from a cold state and being impressed by the rest of the crowd who endured 50-degree temperatures.
“I know some had to leave because of family and children, people who were here for 12 hours,” Burgum said. ‘Thank you for being here.’
Speaking about Trump, the former presidential candidate said, “I know you feel bad about being late tonight.”
“I’ve been with him at two in the morning when he’s still working… He’s excited to come to Michigan tonight!”
He then called defeated Michigan gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon to the stage.
“We have a special gift ahead of us: Tudor Dixon, she spoke to you earlier,” as the couple bought time by creating what Dixon called a version of their podcast.
Trump returned to Michigan after a pair of polls on Wednesday gave his rival the lead in a key piece of Democrats’ “blue wall.”
The campaign played a video explaining the delay, after a long interview with Joe Rogan.
Hundreds of supporters left after anticipating a Friday night with Trump
Harris leads Trump 49 to 46 in the latest poll of likely voters from Quinnipiac University in Michigan.
A Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll from the same day had Harris at nearly 50 percent, and Trump at 47 percent.
Trump narrowly won Grand Traverse County in 2020, but the city itself is a blue island in a lake of Republican support. He lost the state that year and won it in 2016.
The state is older than average, has strong union support and more than 200,000 voters identify as Arab-Americans.
Traverse City, where Trump held his rally in an airport hangar, is a vacation spot located on Grand Traverse Bay, packed with breweries and water sports opportunities.
Biden’s Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, former Indianapolis mayor and Biden’s top supporter on Fox News, moved his home here after the election.
Making a list: Trump supporters lined up to greet Trump on a day when Kamala Harris accused him of making an ‘enemies list’ for planned retaliation.
MAGA fans lined up to see Trump, at an event guarded by law enforcement officers with long guns
Jamin, a mechanical contractor, and his daughter Nora came to hear Trump. Jamin said he saw Trump here four years ago
A poster calling Election Day ‘the most important day in the history of our country
Among those hoping to see Trump were Jamin, a mechanical contractor, and his daughter Nora. The father said he saw Trump here four years ago. He said the United States had lost part of its “stance in the world.”
“We are a superpower and we have to act like this,” he said. He did not outright endorse Trump’s signature proposal to try to stop illegal immigration. ‘I don’t know if that starts with a wall or not. But just don’t allow so many illegal immigrants to flow freely. You know we are indeed the land of the free, so you are welcome. We are a port of entry, right? Like you’re supposed to do.
Also backing Trump on immigration is Hellade Gasparetti, who emigrated from Brazil in 2017. The caregiver who works with elderly patients said immigrants in the country “also do a lot for the country.” We have our role, let’s put it that way, for the country. The problem is immigrants who are not legal,’ he said.
He doesn’t adopt Trump’s own rhetoric of saying there was an “invasion” of illegal immigrants made up of criminals and “lunatics,” a phrase he used Friday.
He said he supported Trump’s threat to deport illegal immigrants. ‘I understand it, because it takes away other people’s jobs. It takes things away from the legal ones,’ he said. But he admitted: “I don’t think all illegals are bad, because sometimes there are different reasons why people become illegal.” I can’t say they are bad, but there are bad things in everything: legal and illegal.
Michigan Rep. Jack Bergman warmed up the crowd of a few thousand for Trump, a few days after President Biden gaffe by saying “lock him up” when talking about Trump. Biden quickly corrected himself and said to lock him up ‘politically.’
‘You know, eight years ago, what were we saying here about Hillary? What was that song from eight years ago? Lock her up, right? said Bergman, a retired Marine lieutenant general. ‘I remember leading that ovation. Well, how about this one? How about we just kick out Harris? Let’s hear it! Throw her out! Throw her out!’ he said, leading the crowd.