Donald Trump appears in St. Cloud with aim to turn Minnesota red

ST. CLOUD — Thousands of people greeted former President Donald Trump with a standing ovation long before he took the stage for a campaign rally at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud on Saturday night, July 27.

Trump waved to the crowd in front of a sign that read, “Minnesota is Trump Country.”

“Last night I spoke to a great group of people, Christians,” Trump said. “Then I spoke about crypto. I went from Christians to Bitcoin and now I’m with you.”

A huge crowd, some of whom had been lining up since Friday, braved 90-degree temperatures on Saturday to see Republican nominee Trump and his vice presidential running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio.

In the middle of his speech, Trump showed how many people were inside and outside the rally, showing live footage of the supporters standing outside the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

“(The media) never shows the crowd,” Trump said. “They never say there’s a crowd.” The hockey rink erupted in applause. Attendees held up signs, clapped and cheered.

Trump’s top priority of the night was to criticize his likely Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, specifically criticizing her positions on the border, abortion and law enforcement.

“Kamala Harris was a failed VP,” Trump said. “A terrible district attorney. She destroyed San Francisco. When a crazy liberal like Kamala Harris gets into the American dream, it’s dead.”

Trump claimed Harris failed as border czar as part of the Biden administration, in part because she never visited the border.

“Nobody is a bigger advocate for open borders than Harris,” Trump said.

Trump claimed Harris had let 20 million undocumented people into the country. Earlier in the evening, Vance had claimed it was 10 million.

“I have a very simple message for the millions of illegal aliens in this country: If you’re here, start packing your bags now, because Donald J. Trump is going to be the next president,” Vance said.

Trump would also finish construction of the border wall, Vance said.

“In six months, we’re going to launch the largest deportation program in the history of this country,” Vance said. “We’re going to end catch and release, we’re going to ban sanctuary cities.”

According to Trump, the Biden administration is responsible for an increase in what he calls migrant crime.

“They’re coming from Africa, Asia — they’re coming from everywhere, and they’re coming from prisons,” Trump said. “They reported that in 2019, there were zero terrorists coming into the country. Now there are thousands.”

Trump thanked the Supreme Court justices — Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett — who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022. The abortion issue should go back to the states, he said.

Additionally, the former president claimed that Harris worked to eliminate Medicare and Social Security funding during her time in office, and that she now plans to “defund the police.”

“She keeps saying we need to defund the police,” Trump said. “Politicians don’t change. What they say first, that’s what they are.”

Trump later announced that he planned to increase funding for police and other law enforcement agencies.

“I love the police,” Trump said. “We’re not going to defund them. We want to overfund the police. We’re going to make America great again.”

Vance also said Harris wants to abolish ICE, protect squatters, keep police off the streets and support extreme environmental policies.

He also said Harris wants more criminals on the streets, citing a false claim that Harris donated money to the bail funds of protesters during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, which erupted across the country after the killing of George Floyd by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

“If we have a fair election, I think we’re going to blow it in Minnesota,” Trump said. “We’re not going to let them rig the election in 2024 like they rigged the election in 2020.”

Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minnesota, took the stage earlier Saturday to support Trump and Vance, saying the July 13 assassination attempt had only made the Republican Party stronger. He was greeted with cheers when he called for Minnesota to be painted red for the first time in half a century.

He then turned his attention to Harris.

“Make no secret of the fact that the Biden/Harris administration has wreaked havoc in our great state,” said Emmer, who represents Minnesota’s 6th District, which includes St. Cloud.

Emmer also responded to speculation that Harris might choose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate, calling him “an empty shell who should not be allowed anywhere near the White House.”

Speaking earlier in the evening, Vance wasted no time in taking shots at President Joe Biden, calling him one of the worst presidents in American history. The crowd in St. Cloud responded by chanting, “USA! USA! USA!”

Trump proved he was better equipped for the job than Biden during their June debate, Vance said. Vance alleged the media covered up Biden’s incompetence for nearly four years.

“They told us Joe Biden was Abraham Lincoln, and now they say Kamala Harris is Martin Luther King Jr.,” Vance said. “She’s one of her San Francisco lunatic friends. America will no longer be fooled by the media’s lies.”

That rally was outdoors at the Butler Farm Show in Pennsylvania, a 250-acre fairground used for agricultural exhibits. The Herb Brooks National Hockey Center and its indoor facility have a seating capacity of 6,000, but can hold 8,000 people, St. Cloud State officials said.

According to media reports, the Secret Service has recommended that Trump hold future meetings indoors due to security concerns.

On Tuesday, July 23, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheattle announced her resignation following the assassination attempt.

At the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 15, Trump announced Vance as his vice presidential nominee. Vance is Ohio’s junior senator in his first term. He is up for election in 2023.

Saturday’s event will mark the first time Trump and Vance have campaigned together in Minnesota. It will also be Trump’s first political appearance in St. Cloud, either as a nominee or president.

Vice President Harris visited New Flyer of America in St. Cloud in February 2023 to highlight the Biden administration’s investments in electric vehicles.

On Sunday, July 21, President Biden announced that he will not seek a second term. Biden has endorsed Harris as his successor as the Democratic presidential candidate. The Democratic National Convention will be held in Chicago from August 19 to 22.

Minnesota has become an unexpected focal point in the presidential race, with Governor Walz rumored to be on Harris’ shortlist of vice presidential candidates.

Republicans — including Emmer, the Republican leader in the House of Representatives — believe reliably blue Minnesota could be flipped to the GOP this year. Then-incumbent Trump and Vice President Mike Pence lost Minnesota to Biden-Harris in 2020 by about 233,000 votes.

During a speech to GOP donors in St. Paul in May, Trump claimed he won Minnesota in 2020 despite losing by 7 percentage points and no evidence of voter fraud in the state, according to a Pioneer Press report. He also warned leaders to protect the state’s vote in the upcoming election.

The Duluth News Tribune reported that Trump joked to supporters at a 2020 campaign rally in the city: “If I lose Minnesota, I’m never coming back,” he said.