On Thursday, the former president held what could be his final Copper State rally at Arizona State University’s Mullett Arena in Tempe. (He also is scheduled to appear in Glendale on Oct. 31 for an onstage interview with Tucker Carlson.) It felt like déjà vu.
That’s because Trump was just in the state on Oct. 13 for a rally in Prescott Valley, and the Tempe event hit all the same notes. It had a similar lineup of speakers, featured the same songs between speeches and crescendoed to the same stale remarks from the former president, who got the same applause from the audience at the same points.
Warming up the crowd for Trump in Tempe were Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake, Arizona GOP chair Gina Swoboda, failed presidential candidate and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida.
Phoenix New Times was there. Here are some of the most ridiculous scenes from the day.
Chumming it up
Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer (left) chats with former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio (right).
TJ L'Heureux
New Times spotted two unlikely attendees chatting.
One was a glum-looking Joe Arpaio, the infamous former Maricopa County Sheriff. The other was former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who famously got off to a bad start in the job defending Trump’s claims about the size of his 2016 inauguration crowd and ultimately left the administration six months later.
Does Spicer have a shot at joining a second Trump administration?
Definitely not, he told New Times. He was just in town for a private event in Tucson and decided to come “as a supporter.”
Little Marco shills for Trump
Rubio, whom Trump demeaned as "Little Marco" during the 2016 campaign, was introduced by a faceless announcer as simply “Rubio.” The senator tried to riff on the introduction a la Trump, but ultimately lacked the comedic timing to land any jokes with the crowd.
“They didn’t even say my first name. It’s fine,” Rubio said, adding that he hated his name when he was a kid so he was actually happy his first name wasn’t uttered.
“You guys have no humidity,” he observed, calling the weather “bad for the hair.”
Rubio also claimed the Harris-Walz campaign wasn’t even outlining its own plans for governing the country (which isn’t true) and was “all attacks, all viciousness” toward the Trump campaign.
It must have been a projection. The rest of the afternoon, speakers painted a picture of the country invoking blood, carnage, an immigrant “invasion” and America’s “occupation” by migrants which, by the way, is also all Harris’ fault.
The music
They’re playing Andrea Bocelli at the Trump rally and people are feeling it pic.twitter.com/JmF2RCd3lS
— Stephanie Murray (@stephanie_murr) October 24, 2024
In the hour between speeches by Lake and Ramaswamy, music blasted out of Mullett Arena’s speaker system at an eardrum-shattering decibel level.
“This is fucking miserable,” one veteran reporter could be overheard saying in the press section.
At full volume, an endless parade of songs from musicals and operas — and the somehow-too-subtle-for-this-crowd gay anthem “YMCA” — assaulted the ears of rallygoers.
Far worse than the ear-splitting volume was a performance earlier in the day by an artist named Jon Kahn. Nobody, not even members of the right-wing press, seemed to know who he was. The Los Angeles-based singer took the stage and asked, “So this is a MAGA rally?” — pronouncing “MAGA” as “maw-gah” for some reason. He then played a song titled “Fighter,” which he said was written for Trump.
The performance was … not great. Kahn seemed off-pitch for most of the song, which was full of cliches. A lyrical sampling:
I'm a fighter
No one can say that I'm a run and hider
I was born to be a do or die-er
A make it righter
Garbage can is a fun word
Trump: We’re like a garbage can for the world pic.twitter.com/E154bohRxv
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 24, 2024
Once Trump took the stage, he spent most of his remarks on immigration. He referred to America as a country under “occupation,” called for the biggest deportation program in American history and in barely disguised fascistic language, said the day he wins the election will be “liberation day.”
The former president told a story about two unnamed “beautiful, young girls” who were stabbed by undocumented immigrants while walking to school. Short on any details, it’s unclear if the story is true.
“We’re gonna get these animals out of here real fast,” Trump declared.
Trump also used a new phrase with which he instantly became obsessed.
“We’re a dumping ground, we’re like a garbage can for the world. That’s what’s happened. That’s what’s happened to — we’re like a garbage can,” Trump said before fixating on that term. “You know, it’s the first time I’ve ever said that," he continued. "Every time I come up and talk about what they've done to our country, I get angrier and angrier. First time I've ever said ‘garbage can,' but you know what, it’s an accurate description.”
Trump also said he would make the death sentence a mandatory requirement for any migrant who kills an American citizen, to which the crowd erupted in blood-thirsty cheers. The only other things that garnered such raucous applause were Trump’s proposal to end taxes on tips and to stop “men from playing in women’s sports.”
The press as ‘the enemy of the people’
Donald Trump on journalists: “They are just bad people. And until we get a fair and free press in this country, they are just bad people…They're the enemy of the people. They are the enemy.” pic.twitter.com/GyT0mWBPuH
— Republican Voters Against Trump (@AccountableGOP) October 24, 2024
It wouldn’t be a Trump rally if he didn’t demonize the Fourth Estate. The crowds love booing during this part.
“They’re just bad people. And until we get a free and fair press — they’re just bad people,” Trump said.
Then Trump steered further into autocratic rhetoric.
“They’re the enemy of the people. I — they are. They’re the enemy of — I’ve been asked not to say it. I don’t wanna say it — they’re the enemy of the people, and someday they’re not gonna be the enemy of the people, I hope,” Trump rambled, a proverbial devil and angel seeming to battle for his attention on his shoulders.
We’re pretty sure which has the higher winning percentage.
