Thousands crowd airport in Lansing for rain-soaked MAGA rally

President Donald J. Trump told thousands of his supporters gathered at an airport rally in Lansing Tuesday that he’s expecting a “great red wave” to roll over Michigan next month.

“We’re going to win Michigan. We’re leading almost everywhere,” Trump said to an enthusiastic but entirely rain-soaked crowd outside the Capital Region International Airport. “Now, I’ve gotta say, I’m working my ass off here. Sleepy Joe? The guy goes to the basement.”

Trump climbed off Air Force One into a cheering sea of red hats more than an hour after his scheduled 2 p.m. speech. But even with rain, delays and thousands of ballots already cast in Michigan ahead of next week’s election, enthusiasm for the president was on full display.

A crowd had lined up across the parking lot by 10 a.m. A traffic jam was forming an hour later.

Republican congressional candidates Paul Junge and John James used the delays to form last-minute campaign pitches to the crowd. Ted Nugent took the stage to screech out his own rendition of the National Anthem. The crowd repeatedly chanted: “Four more years. Four more years.”

“This election is a matter of economic survival for Michigan,” Trump said. “This is a crazy race.”

During his speech of a little more than an hour, Trump bounced from topic to topic. He attacked Democratic candidate Joe Biden as the nation’s “most corrupt politician.” He bragged about “big beautiful tariffs” on China. He touted his trade deals and his support for the automotive industry.

As the mostly maskless crowd stood shoulder to shoulder, he also continued to cast doubt on the severity of the coronavirus pandemic. His teenage son Barron was diagnosed but “recovered in 12 minutes,” Trump said. And next week, the “fake news” will move on to other stories, he said.

“It’s COVID, COVID, COVID,” he said. “On Nov. 4, you won’t hear any more about it.”

“We’re going to have the greatest year ever next year,” Trump added. “We had the greatest year we’ve ever had. We had to stop it. We learned about the disease. We saved 2 million lives.”

As Trump took the stage, Ingham County was recording more than 6,500 coronavirus cases and 65 deaths. In Clinton County, where the airport is located, there are more than 1,000 cases and 16 deaths — including two more reported within the last 24 hours alone, health data showed.

Beforehand, Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail said the rally and the close proximity of its many guests “goes against all best practices right now.” Yet, Trump’s campaign pushed on — going on to suggest Biden would be deemed unfit for office within the first 30 days of 2021.

“Do you like Kamala? Do you like her to be your vice president?” Trump said, drawing widespread boos from the crowd after the question about Joseph Biden’s Democratic running mate, U.S. Sen. Kamal Harris, of California. “This will not be the first woman president.”

Trump, also repeatedly directed his ire at a scaffold of both local and national television and newspaper reporters — or “fake news media,” as the president has repeatedly labeled them. Some attendees took the queue and heckled as they passed by: “CNN sucks,” they shouted.

He also criticized Biden’s plan to phase out the oil industry and fracking, at one point playing a clip from the last debate spliced with clips of Biden emphasizing cleaner alternatives for energy. He also criticized Biden for supporting “endless war” over his decades spent in Washington.

When it came to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Trump seemed to hold his tongue. After being criticized earlier this month for inciting a “lock her up” chant against Whitmer at a rally in Michigan, Trump simply declared that Whitmer and her executive orders were a “disaster.”

“I don’t comment on that,” Trump said, laughing as the crowd continued to rail against Whitmer, briefly chanting “lock her up.”

As the speech continued, Trump also bragged about the size of the crowd and emphasized the “law and order” portions of his campaign platform, including tighter border security, Second Amendment rights and more criminal penalties for those convicted of assaulting police officers.

At one point, he asked the booing crowd if they wanted more refugees to come to Michigan.

“I thought I knew you pretty well,” Trump laughed.

Trump also insisted that four years of Biden in the Oval Office would only lead to higher taxes, war and political corruption. The overarching goal for 2021: A return to “normal life” before the “plague from China” arrived, Trump explained to the crowd.

“The vaccine is just around the corner,” Trump continued. “We just want normal life.”

Before Trump appeared, the rally kicked off with prayer from Linda Lee Tarver, a member of the National Federation of Republican Women and advisory member of the national Black Voices for Trump coalition. Norm Shinkle, who chairs the 8th Congressional District GOP organization, also led the National Anthem before Nugent took over with the guitar to play it a second time.

“Let’s make Michigan real Michigan again,” Nugent declared, as he called for a moment of silence for the “heartbreak and embarrassment of what we let happen to Michigan” — possibly a reference to Whitmer’s shutdown orders in the face of the growing coronavirus pandemic.

Nugent said he should be in a duck blind, but came to Lansing to help Trump secure a win.

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel, who said she voted for Trump on Tuesday, also took the stage. She predicted that if Biden were elected, he would put Hillary Clinton on the Supreme Court bench as part of packing it to balance Republican justices.

Conservative Amy Coney Barrett was sworn in this week after the U.S. Senate approved her along tight party lines. Trump said he expects her to serve in the position for at least 50 years. McDaniel also said to expect “dark days” with Biden through higher taxes and bad trade deals.

Trump, for his part, also pledged to keep taxes low for the middle class while bolstering manufacturing opportunities for midwestern states like Michigan. He also again labeled himself as a political “outsider” — a mentality that many people believe helped him get elected in 2016.

“We are going to keep on fighting and we are going to keep on winning, winning, winning,” Trump said. “We are one movement, one people, one family and one glorious nation under God and together with the incredible people of Michigan, we have made America powerful again.”

“We have made America strong again. We have made America proud again. We have made America safe again,” Trump said in his final remarks. “And we will make America great again.”