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Hours before Donald Trump is set to speak in Waco, Texas, his diehard fans have already begun lining up to see their presidential candidate.
The former president, 76, is set to hold a rally in Waco this afternoon, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the FBI raid on Branch Davidians formerly led by David Koresh.
As Trump fans do best, hundreds came dressed in the Republican‘s merchandise, from ‘Trump Girl’ shirts to Make America Great Again hats, as they lined up in droves as early as 7am.
Merchandise is also available to purchase at the event for those who forgot, including bedazzled denim Trump hats. The event officially starts at 2pm and Trump is expected to give a 60 to 90-minute speech around 5pm.
One man was even seen running down the streets of Waco holding an American flag with Trump’s face printed on it and the words: ‘Trump’s Front Row Joes,’ while another flashed a white power symbol while riding in a decorated hearse.
The Branch Davidians are said to be excited about Trump’s weekend rally in Waco and consider him to be ‘the anointed of God.’
As Trump fans do best, hundreds came dressed in Republican’s merchandise, from ‘Trump Girl’ shirts to Make America Great Again hats, lining up in droves as early as 7am.
One fan wore a sparkly hat with the American flag printed on it in Waco
One man was even seen running down the streets of Waco holding an American flag with Trump’s face printed on it and the words: ‘Trump’s Front Row Joes’
The Branch Davidians are said to consider the former president as ‘the battering ram that God is using to bring down the Deep State of Babylon.’
The 1993 Waco siege was a 51-day standoff between the US government and the Branch Davidians.
The FBI’s raid on the group’s compound, Mount Carmel, which the Branch Davidians view as a government overstep, is similar to what they claim happened to Trump.
Trump’s holding of a rally in Waco is ‘a statement — that he was sieged by the FBI at Mar-a-Lago and that they were accusing him of different things that aren’t really true, just like David Koresh was accused by the FBI when they sieged him,’ Koresh’s successor, Pastor Charles Pace, told the New York Times.
Trump’s campaign insisted the location and timing of the event had nothing to do with the Waco siege or anniversary. Instead, a spokesperson said the site was chosen because it was conveniently situated near four of the state’s biggest metropolitan areas — Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio — and has the infrastructure to handle a sizable crowd.
The former president, 76, is set to hold a rally in Waco this afternoon, coinciding with 30th anniversary of the FBI raid on Branch Davidians formerly led by David Koresh.
Older women use their walkers to get around the airport grounds before the rally
A woman donned a cowboy hat with a Trump Rally button on it
A girl wearing heart sunglasses for an American flag cowboy hat decorated with Trump 2024 on it
Hundreds lined up as early as 7am for the 2pm event. Trump is expected to give a 60 to 90-minute speech around 5pm
‘This is the ideal location to have as many supporters from across the state and in neighboring states attend this historic rally,’ said Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung.
The city is part of McLennan County, which Trump won in 2020 by more than 23 points. The airport where the rally is being held is 17 miles from the Branch Davidian compound.
The rally had already been in the works before it became clear that a grand jury in New York was drawing closer to a possible indictment as it investigates hush money payments made to women who alleged sexual encounters with Trump during the height of his 2016 campaign. Trump has denied the women’s claims.
But the timing will give Trump an opportunity to demonstrate his continued popularity with the GOP base and to portray himself as the victim of a politically motivated ‘witch hunt’ as he campaigns for a second term in the White House.
Two women pose together for a photo in their decked out outfits on Saturday
One man looks ready for a Fourth of July party as he wears American flag overalls, a Trump flag, and a red hat
A woman decorated her hat with a bunch of Trump pins
Two men drive a decorated hearse down the road as one of the men flash a white power symbol out of the window
A woman passed out Trump 2024 hats along the side of the roadway
The rally comes as Trump has berated prosecutors, encouraged protests and raised the prospect of possible violence should he become the first former president in US history to face criminal charges, brought forth by the New York DA Alvin Bragg.
Some of his recent rhetoric has echoed language he used before the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol by a mob of his supporters seeking to stop the transfer of power.
‘What kind of person can charge another person, in this case a former President of the United States…and leading candidate (by far!) for the Republican Party nomination, with a Crime, when it is known by all that NO Crime has been committed, & also known that potential death & destruction in such a false charge could be catastrophic for our Country?’ Trump wrote on his social media site early Friday.
The grand jury is investigating the hush money payment and is expected to meet again Monday in New York.
Fire consumes the Branch Davidian Compound during the FBI assault to end the 51-day standoff with cult leader David Koresh and his followers in March 1993
David Koresh was the leader of the cult claimed to be Christ, and his followers were involved in a standoff with police at the compound in 1993
Trump has spent weeks now railing against the investigation. In a move that seemed designed to preempt a formal announcement and to galvanize his loyal base, he claimed last Saturday that he would be arrested the following Tuesday. While that did not happen, Trump has used the days since to try to shape public perception, claiming, for instance, that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office had plunged into ‘total disarray,’ though there was no evidence to suggest prosecutors were backing away from the case.
The Manhattan case focuses on a $130,000 payment that Trump’s longtime lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, made to porn actor Stormy Daniels as Trump was in the throes of the 2016 campaign. Trump later reimbursed Cohen and his company logged the reimbursements as a legal expense. Cohen has already served time in prison after pleading guilty to campaign finance charges and lying to Congress, among other crimes.
Trump is also facing an investigation in Georgia over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election as well as federal probes into his handling of classified documents and possible obstruction, as well as his efforts on January 6.
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