‘Texas loves Trump.’ Supporters gather in Waco as former president faces possible indictment

The packed line stretched all the way down the road as far as the eye could see. It snaked again and again in a knot in a field outside the Waco airport. In it stood thousands waiting to see the man they hope is America’s next president: Donald Trump.

“Make America Great Again” hats, clothing adorned with American flags and “Trump 2024” gear speckled the crowd as they waited for doors to open at noon for the rally at Waco Regional Airport.

Saturday marked Trump’s first rally since he announced his 2024 presidential campaign.

“You don’t ever see a Joe Biden crowd this big,” said Adolf Arizpe of Waco.

Trump was scheduled to speak at 5 p.m. His speech began just after 6 p.m.

Valeri Galland traveled from Burleson with her husband for the event, her third Trump rally.

“I think it’s awesome, because Texas loves Trump,” she said about the former president’s first rally of his new campaign being held in the Lone Star State.

In another field across the road, American flags and Trump flags fastened to cars blew in the wind.

“Texans for Trump,” read one.

Another advertised the belief many of his supporters and the former president himself have carried with them the past three years, though disproved: “TRUMP WON.”

“Truly, the election was stolen from him, and you know, he should have been in office a long time ago,” said John Charlot of Waco. “Biden is not the president.”

The former president won Texas in 2020 by 5.6 points, the second-closest margin in Texas for president in 25 years, according to The Texas Tribune.

Fifty-six percent of Texas Republican voters said Trump should run for president in 2024, according to a February 2023 poll by the Texas Politics Project at UT Austin.

“I actually got my family on board to support him the first time around, and we’ve loved him ever since, and we want to come out and show our support,” Galland said. She recalled participating in Trump parades in Burleson ahead of the 2020 election.

News of whether Trump would be under indictment by the time he visited Texas was being closely watched. News reports earlier in March cited law enforcement sources saying he could be charged as early as this week for alleged hush money paid to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels. Trump has denied the allegations.

Friday came and went without word from the New York grand jury related to the case, and the Waco rally continued as planned.

Those at Saturday’s event think it may stay that way.

“If it does, it does, but at the end of the day it’s a scam,” Arizpe said. “It’s a scam.”

“And if they don’t get him on this one they’ll try another one, and another one,” added Sharon Lazaren of Marquette, Michigan.

Lazaren and her husband Mitch were visiting their children in Austin when they found out there was a Trump rally nearby. They came to cross off a bucket list item, Sharon said.

Mitch said whether Trump would win in 2024 wasn’t a matter of chance. He believes Trump will take the race.

Wendy Cooper, who called herself a “big ol’ Trump supporter” who wanted change, drove more than three hours from Abilene. She thinks everything in the country worked great when Trump was president.

“Is he perfect? No. Far from it,” Cooper said. “But things were a lot easier.”

Elizabeth Tisdale of Seguin thought Trump was someone who made and kept his promises. She thought an indictment was a desperate attempt to make sure Trump couldn’t run again because people know he would win.

Trump is the most prominent Republican to have announced a presidential bid. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has also been mentioned as a top contender, were he to enter the race.

Trump has made a number of stops to Texas in the past, including in May 2022 at a Houston NRA convention and CPAC Dallas in August 2022.

Murphy Douglas, a student at Baylor, believes Trump will be a front-runner in this year’s race.

“I just think a lot of people, like, they don’t like change,” Douglas said. “And just what happened three years ago, they just want that again. They know what to expect with Trump so they’ll want that again.”

Renay Gwin of Woodway attended the rally with her son.

“I just wanted to be a part of history, and I just think everybody deserves to have a voice,” Gwin said.

The former president’s trip to Waco falls during the 30th anniversary of the Branch Davidian siege in Mount Carmel, which began when the compound was raided by U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents. The 51-day standoff ended in flames April 19, 1993. The fire left 76 dead, including 25 children.

Trump has encouraged his supporters to protest his potential arrest as he faces indictment.

There are no coincidences in politics, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political science professor.

“He’s doing this on purpose,” he said. “These are moments where he’s attempting to try to reclaim that more aggressive-style conservatism, and one that even borders on encouraging civil unrest. … That’s been successful for him and he wants to repeat that. And so I think, you know, he is by going to Waco broadly and loudly proclaiming that he is the candidate that is going to help you with all of your grievances against the government.”

Trump’s campaign, however, has denied conflation of the two events. His campaign spokesperson said Waco was chosen because of its ability to hold a large rally and its proximity to Austin, Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth, according to the New York Times.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who spoke at the rally, said he picked Waco for the event after Trump told him he was coming to Texas. He called reports saying Trump chose the location because of the anniversary of the siege “fake news.”

“I picked Waco,” he said.

The crowd cheered as Trump’s plane circled overhead to make its descent into Waco, and before he took the microphone, everyone put their hands over their hearts as speakers played audio of Trump saying the Pledge of Allegiance over a choir of men who are in prison for the Jan. 6 attack singing the national anthem.

Though the crowd was big when placed one next to the other, there was still ample space as event-goers made their way toward the stage.

And the excitement didn’t seem like it was there to stay.

As soon as the crowd found its way in to watch the man they waited all day to see, many began to trickle out as Trump spoke — one by one by one.