No one’s surprised, but Trump’s Thursday rally at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium is kind of a hot mess.
NBC News is reporting that followers—many unmasked as Florida sees new COVID-19 cases rising—are passing out at the president’s Thursday afternoon rally in Tampa.
“It’s so hot here in Tampa (87 degrees) that there’s a truck blasting water at the back of the Trump rally crowd,” Monica Alba wrote on Twitter. “Multiple people have passed out already, with supporters calling for medics every 5-10 minutes.”
Community radio station WMNF 88.5-FM said that it counted at least 10 people who needed medical attention due to excessive heat.
The news of heat affecting Trump supporters comes in the same week that some of the president’s sheeple in Omaha, Nebraska went to hospitals after a Trump rally where hundreds were stranded in the cold.
It’s so hot here in Tampa (87 degrees) that there’s a truck blasting water at the back of the Trump rally crowd. Multiple people have passed out already, with supporters calling for medics every 5-10 minutes. pic.twitter.com/Iu7I2KbgYi
— Monica Alba (@albamonica) October 29, 2020
Trump’s rally is also wreaking havoc on folks who might’ve had plans on Early Voting at Raymond James Stadium, which is one of Hillsborough County’s largest sites to cast your ballot ahead of Election Day. This morning, the City of Tampa said that the dignitary visit would mean that three roads surrounding the stadium will be temporarily closed.
In 2016, Trump won Florida by just 1.2%, which is 114,455 votes. Raymond James is the closest polling location for a largely low-income part of Tampa, where the median household salary is often under $20K, according to CityData. This forces residents to travel to Town 'N' Country or South Tampa to get to their nearest Early Voting site.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Office (HCSOE) said that Trump's rally "is not affiliated with the Supervisor of Elections Office or the Supervisor of Elections' use of Raymond James Stadium as an Early Voting site."
The HCSOE added that per Florida Statute, electioneering is not allowed within 150 feet of an early voting cite.
"But the Supervisor of Elections Office cannot prohibit campaign activities outside this no solicitation zone.' The rally and campaigners will be outside of this zone," HCSOE added.
In a press release sent Thursday morning, political organizations, and advocates including Florida for All Education Fund, Organize Florida, NAACP and the Florida Immigrant Coalition criticized the rally, saying, "It is unsafe to host this event during a pandemic, in the final days of early voting, at an early voting location. Nothing should disrupt people’s constitutional right to vote, and voters should feel safe going to cast their vote at early voting and election day polling locations."
Gotta admire the devotion; these folks are willing to freeze, be overcome by heat and face coronavirus all for a glimpse of the guy.
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