Jim Hoft Aug 21st, 2015 7:42 pm
The AMAZING Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) joined Donald Trump on stage in Mobile, Alabama tonight sporting a Trump hat.
Sessions is widely respected for his commitment to border security, American workers and immigration control.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmOwV9VemDc
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2015...ump-hat-video/
By Robert Costa and David Weigel August 21 at 9:11 PM
MOBILE, Ala. — It was the most audacious Donald Trump spectacle yet in a summer full of them, as the Republican presidential front-runner, in his Boeing 757, thundered over a football stadium here Friday night and gave a raucous speech to one of the largest crowds of the 2016 campaign.
But Trump’s flashy performance was about more than showmanship. His visit to Alabama was coolly strategic, touching down in the heart of red America and an increasingly important early battleground in the Republican nominating contest.
The Manhattan developer, who strode on stage to “Sweet Home Alabama,” is trying to show that his candidacy has broad and lasting appeal across every region of the country — especially here in the South, where Alabama and seven other states are holding a clustered regional voting blitz March 1.
The scene Friday night put an exclamation point on a extraordinary run in which the flamboyant mogul has thoroughly disrupted the presidential campaign and kindled a national discussion about not just politics but American culture itself.
“We have politicians that don’t have a clue,” said Trump, wearing a red hat with his slogan, “Make America Great Again.” “They’re all talk, no action. What’s happening to this country is disgraceful.”
The crowd — large and boisterous, though filling perhaps half of the 40,000-seat stadium — was anything but silent. People pumped their fists in the air as the ruddy-faced man with an iconic corn-silk coif took one shot after another at former Florida governor Jeb Bush (R) and Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton.
His speech focused heavily on illegal immigration — “We’re going to build a wall,” he declared to booming applause. And Trump basked in the early success of his campaign, noting all the states where he leads in the polls, including Bush’s Florida.
“Has this been crazy? Man! I mean, it’s been wild,” he said while suggesting that the United States should have an expedited election as in some other countries. “I’d like to have the election tomorrow. I don’t want to wait.”
Bush and his allies tried to fire back at Trump. Bush’s super PAC, Right to Rise, paid for a small plane to fly above the stadium towing a banner that read, “TRUMP 4 HIGHER TAXES, JEB 4 PREZ.” Bush’s campaign, meanwhile, blasted an e-mail to Alabama supporters highlighting Trump’s past liberal positions and saying they are “deeply out-of-step with the Alabama way of life.”
Trump fans came by the thousands, driving from the Florida panhandle, from Mississippi, from Tennessee and Texas. Traffic was backed up for more than a mile.
On the street, Olaf Childress, a neo-Confederate activist, gave out copies of “The First Freedom” newspaper, which had headlines about “Black-on-white crime,” “occupied media” and “censored details of the Holocaust.”
The most-enthusiastic Trump backers began arriving at the stadium at dawn, hoping to get a spot close to the stage. The first in line were Keith Quackenbush, 54, and Bill Hart, 46, co-workers at a retail giant in Pensacola, Fla.
“I’m telling you, everyone who is a worker at our store, they’re excited about Trump,” Quackenbush said. “I don’t care what race or gender, whatever age — they love Trump. This is a movement.”
The event — billed as a “pep rally” — had been scheduled for the Mobile Civic Center but was moved to Ladd-Peebles Stadium, home to the University of South Alabama Jaguars, as interest soared. Trump’s campaign claimed that more than 35,000 people had applied for tickets, but by the time his speech began, the stadium was full of empty patches of AstroTurf and grandstands.
In the run-up, Trump made the rounds on Alabama radio stations, talking politics and college football — though, like any practiced pol, he wouldn’t take sides in the rivalry between the University of Alabama and Auburn University.
As the crowd formed Friday morning, Trump tweeted from New York: “We are going to have a wild time in Alabama tonight! Finally, the silent majority is back!” He echoed Richard Nixon’s 1968 “silent majority” pitch that was aimed at attracting disaffected white Southerners.
Like other Republican candidates, Trump is making a strategic play for the South, eyeing the cluster of states participating March 1 in the so-called SEC primary — named for the collegiate sports conference — soon after the traditional early contests in Iowa and New Hampshire. Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, said in an interview that Trump could “win significant support” in the South, buoyed by his hard-line views on trade and immigration as well as the GOP base’s restive appetite for an outsider. “We’re going to be strong in Iowa, New Hampshire and the other states that start it out,” *Lewandowski said. “Then comes the South. That’s the path to the nomination.”
In Mobile, campaign volunteers wearing Trump hats and carrying clipboards collected signatures to get Trump on the primary ballot and gathered names and signatures for a voter database.
Next week, Trump is to hold events in Nashville and Greenville, S.C., and he plans more visits.
Trump chose Mobile for his big rally in part because it is the hometown of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R), an immigration hard-liner who has been counseling Trump and helped him develop his immigration policy paper. Trump brought Sessions onstage at the rally. The senator put on a white “Make America Great Again” hat and said he was “really impressed” with Trump’s immigration plan.
But there is plenty of resistance to Trump’s candidacy here. “My plea to my conservatives is, ‘Don’t get so far out in right field that we can’t talk to anyone but ourselves,’ ” said Jack Edwards, who represented the Mobile area in Congress for two decades.
Trump is not the only contender who sees the South as a place where bids could rise or fall in the second lap of the 2016 race. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) recently made a 20-stop, seven-day road trip from South Carolina to Oklahoma that stretched nearly 2,000 miles.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will appear Saturday at a Republican luncheon in Alabama, while Bush has scheduled private events in Birmingham next Wednesday. Ohio Gov. John Kasich was here earlier this week to pick up the endorsement of Alabama Gov. Robert J. Bentley. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has a passionate grass-roots following here; former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, whose evangelical background has made him a force, has made regular visits to the South.
But none has put on a show like Trump. The scene Friday night resembled something between a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert and the Daytona 500.
People came to see a celebrity, Trump, but also to hear his fiery call to revolutionize the nation’s politics. Many folks here said they had never before attended a presidential campaign event.
Cheryl Burns, 60, was on a road trip from California when she heard that Trump would be in Alabama. She turned her car around and got in line, warning people of what happened to states when liberals took them over.
“There is no more California,” Burns said. “It’s now international, lawless territory. Everything is up for grabs. Illegal aliens are murdering people there. People are being raped. Trump isn’t lying about anything — the rest of the country just hasn’t found out yet.”
As the sun began to set, the sweaty masses in the stadium snapped their heads toward the sky as the roar of a jet engine pierced the air. Here it was, gliding toward them above the Friday night lights: a gleaming Boeing 757 with “T-R-U-M-P” stretched across its navy blue body, circling twice and dipping its wing toward the sloped stadium bleachers.
The crowd roared its approval to Trump as his jet tilted away to land at a nearby airport. Minutes later, he was whisked in a caravan of SUVs past sleepy neighborhoods and the shipyard-lined coast of the Deep South to the surreal scene.
“This is history happening right before our eyes,” said Laura Teague of Mobile, one of the few black attendees at the rally. “I’m going to help Trump make history.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politi...297_story.html
LIVE UPDATES: DONALD TRUMP HOLDS MASSIVE CAMPAIGN RALLY IN ALABAMA
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...00-640x480.jpgCaroline May / Breitbart News
by BREITBART NEWS21 Aug 2015522
Donald Trump, the real estate/reality TV mogul and current Republican frontrunner in the 2016 presidential primary, is holding a campaign rally Friday evening in Mobile, Alabama to a crowd of tens of thousands. Check out live updates from Breitbart News from this event.
9:52 PM EST: Early estimates put the size of the crowd between 20 and 30 thousand people, which wasn’t enough to fill up the stadium. Check out more scenes from around the rally:
Panorama of crowd and stadium here in Mobile. #trump.
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5:51 PM - 21 Aug 2015
The Sweet Home Alabama Trump rally. My daughter is there sending me pics.
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Between 20-30 thousand at Trump rally...
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6:32 PM - 21 Aug 2015
User ActionsI would say there's a pretty good crowd. And this is only about 2/3 of it! Good energy too! #TrumpRally
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User ActionsBeth Kenny voted Dem for all her life until now. Obama led the country into the ground, she said #Trump2016
Follow
https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...QH_bigger.jpegCasey TonerVerified account@ctoner
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2:27 PM - 21 Aug 2015
"politically incorrect" sign ahead of #TrumpinMobile
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3:13 PM - 21 Aug 2015
Watch Live: Donald Trump pep rally in MobileDetails >>http://shout.lt/bbbR0
Watch Live: Donald Trump pep rally in MobileDetails >>http://shout.lt/bbbR0
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6:20 PM - 21 Aug 2015
Trump bangs. #trumprally
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6:46 PM - 21 Aug 2015
TRUMP TOOK A SELFIE WITH MEhttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v1/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.pnghttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v1/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.pnghttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v1/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.pnghttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v1/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png
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6:37 PM - 21 Aug 2015
User ActionsSenator and Mrs. Sessions on Trump Force One
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6:40 PM - 21 Aug 2015
User Actionshttps://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images..._V2_bigger.jpgDonald J. TrumpVerified account@realDonaldTrump#MakeAmericaGreatAgain #TrumpRallyAL
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6:28 PM - 21 Aug 2015
Sessions, wearing Trump cap, and Trump, in a car ahead, zoomed off into the night. Trump joined in his SUV by son Eric, camp mgr Lewandowski
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6:28 PM - 21 Aug 2015
9:31 PM EST: Several reporters say Trump is skipping a press conference originally scheduled for after the speech. He leaves the stadium with Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) in his convoy of SUVs.9:20 PM EST: No updates from Trump’s social media accounts through the speech–it’s all The Donald!
9:17 PM EST: In closing, Trump promises that in his campaign to make America great again, “we’re gonna have a lot of fun doing it.” Leaves the stage to Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”
9:16 PM EST: Trump attacks Obama for failing to unite the country and sapping the people’s “spirit.” Says he expected him to be a great cheerleader for the country when he was first elected. Trump vows to end declarations that “the American Dream is dead.”
9:15 PM EST: America will not only be strong under President Trump but it will also be “loved.”
9:14 PM EST: Trump singles out “women’s health issues.” Says his wife Melania thinks it’s “sad” that people don’t know how much he “cherishes” women.
9:13 PM EST: Ties ObamaCare to his campaign theme of special interests: names insurance companies as the primary beneficiaries of the Affordable Care Act. Vows to erase “artificial barriers” on health coverage.
9:12 PM EST: Trump isolates 2 main criticisms of the Iran deal. 1) Why aren’t they giving us back our prisoners? 2) Iran is going to do its own policing and “tell us, ‘we swear we’re not building anything.’ It’s so sad.”
9:11 PM EST: Says we’ve let down Israel with the Iran deal. “They relied on us, they’re a voice of sanity, they’re great people, and we make a deal–” says Kerry breaking his leg in a bike crash was the only good part of that deal.
9:09 PM EST: Trump proposes a 35% tariff on goods from Mexico to push companies to move their manufacturing to the U.S.
9:07 PM EST: Blink-and-you’ll-miss-it diss of racing horse Secretariat!
9:06 PM EST: Trump, impressed with the number of live cameras present, says the media is less popular than Congress because of its dishonesty. Mentions that journalists have started treating him “much better” than since the beginning of his campaign.
User ActionsA protester who didn't get within 30 yards of Trump has been taken out.
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6:04 PM - 21 Aug 2015
9:05 PM EST: Trump says a woman told him she wasn’t sure if he was nice enough to be president. Responds: This is not going to be an election based on a nice person but a competent person. “We’re tired of the nice people.”
9:04 PM EST: “For 35 years, these Senators–other than Jeff [Sessions], of course… they have done nothing for the vets [veterans].”
9:03 PM EST: “I will rebuild our military. It will be so strong and powerful and so great. It will be so powerful and so great that we’ll never have to use it–nobody’s gonna mess with us.”
9:02 PM EST: Trump says he doesn’t have his own pollster. “Why do I need a pollster when every day there’s a new poll?” Says he saves money and doesn’t need pollsters to tell him what he can and can’t say.
9:00 PM EST: Trump brings up Nabisco moving its plants from America to Mexico: “I love Oreos; I’ll never eat ‘em again.”
8:57 PM EST: References a manufacturer friend who doesn’t like doing business with China–mentions huge tariff on U.S. imports to the PRC.
8:55 PM EST: Blink-and-you’ll-miss-it reference to blood coming out of Megyn Kelly’s eyes!
8:52 PM EST: Trump praises Japanese PM Shinzo Abe as a very smart leader, says Caroline Kennedy is totally outclassed in negotiations with Japan. Says he knows strong negotiators who could do much better than people like Kennedy, who says she took the job of Ambassador on a lark. “They’re killers. They’re negotiators.”
8:51 PM EST: Trump says of Democrats in power: he doesn’t think they’re bad people. They’re just incompetent.
8:50 PM EST: In a discussion of foreign steel manufacturing, Trump takes a few seconds to compliment a sign in the crowd. Doesn’t read it back to those of us watching.
8:49 PM EST: Says that his family will manage his company now and he will devote his whole self to public service. “I just want to make this country so great, and that’s what’s gonna happen.”
Crowd has filled in a little more as the event has progressed #MobileAL
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5:49 PM - 21 Aug 2015
8:47 PM EST: Trump brings up his financial disclosures–net worth and income. Ties it to his support–that people want him to run because of his personal ability: “Whatever it is, I know how to do things.”
8:43 PM EST: We are now on to Macy’s. Trump says that, contrary to mockery that he was just teasing about a presidential run, he has suffered damage to his “brand” because of his stand on immigration. Says it’s not fair for NBC and Univision to have taken away opportunity from Miss USA pageant contestants. Of the lawsuits against the latter: “I sued ‘em for 500 million dollars; I want that money!”
8:41 PM EST: Trump takes a quick detour to mention the news networks covering his speech live. “Who here likes Fox? I like Fox… [an olive branch!] CNN?… MSNBC?” Boos grow progressively louder.
8:39 PM EST: Trump says of various deals with foreign countries, “We get nothing”–including when U.S. troops are deployed to defend places like South Korea.
8:37 PM EST: Trump finds someone in the crowd holding his book The Art of the Deal. Says John Kerry and Barack Obama clearly haven’t read it, based on the Iran nuclear deal. In discussion of negotiations with foreign countries, mentions that he found an American manufacturer for his red campaign slogan hats.
8:36 PM EST: Trump daydreams about taking lobbyist money and doing nothing in return. Says of favors asked once in office, : “I’m not doing it unless it’s good and unless it’s gonna make America great again.”
8:34 PM EST: Trump does some crowing about his lead in the polls–especially Florida, where he leads Bush and Rubio. Says that if this were another country, we could call for an expedited election. “I would love that.”
8:33 PM EST: Sessions gives a quick greeting to Trump. Says of his immigration proposal: “I’m really impressed with your plan; I know it will make a difference.”
Sessions: “Welcome to my hometown, Mobile, Alabama. The American people want somebody in presidency who stands up for them.”
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5:32 PM - 21 Aug 2015
8:31 PM EST: Trump gets raucous applause by inviting Jeff Sessions on stage, citing their collaboration on immigration policy. “He’s been so spot-on–he’s so highly respected. Has anybody ever heard of Senator Jeff Sessions?” As Sessions walks up, compliments his energy: “He’s like 20 years old.”
8:30 PM EST: Trump gets right into birthright citizenship. “The 14th Amendment, you can do something with it and you can do something fast.” Says 300,000 children are born every year that get birthright citizenship whose parents are not citizens and says America is stupid to allow that when other countries–like Mexico–do not.
8:28 PM EST: Trump: “The politicians, 10 years ago, 15 years ago, they all said they wanted a wall.” Now, he suggests, lobbyists have dissuaded them. Says Hillary Clinton has $60 million, Jeb Bush has $100+ million, suggesting they’re bought and paid for. Takes a little pride in Bush using the term “anchor baby.” Mentions the latest info in Hillary’s email scandal.
8:25 PM EST: Trump recounts the illegal immigration fight that sprang from his campaign kickoff speech. Cites Rush Limbaugh saying that he took intense incoming fire, then says “two weeks later everybody was apologizing to me.”
8:24 PM EST: First words out of his mouth: “Wow wow wow. Unbelievable. Unbelievable!” … “Now I know how the great Billy Graham felt.”
8:23 PM EST: Trump takes the stage to “Sweet Home Alabama.” He is wearing his red “Make America Great Again” ball cap.
8:08 PM EST: As the crowd awaits Trump, a few more pics of attendees and their arrival.
Counting the stand and people on the field, maybe 20k at 7 pm local time
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5:01 PM - 21 Aug 2015
http://media.breitbart.com/media/2015/08/DSC_0014.jpgCaroline May / Breitbart News
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...1-1024x639.jpgMark Wallheiser/Getty Images
8:05 PM EST: Several local figures endorse Trump at the main podium. One speaker refers to the Trump phenomenon as “an avalanche of patriotism.”
8:02 PM EST: As the Pledge of Allegiance and National Anthem are performed, Trump arrives at the stadium with police escort.
7:58 PM EST: Invocation pulling references from all over the Bible, reverend says times are tough but “there is hope in Mobile.”
7:53 PM EST: Warmup band jamming.
7:49 PM EST: Video stream is LIVE–watch at Breitbart News.
7:46 PM EST: More crowd shots:
http://media.breitbart.com/media/2015/08/DSC_0008.jpgCaroline May / Breitbart Newshttp://media.breitbart.com/media/201...1-1024x639.jpg
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...6-1024x685.jpgAP Photo/Brynn Anderson
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...4-1024x683.jpgAP Photo/Brynn Anderson
7:37 PM EST: Another plane appears with a heckling message from Jeb Bush’s Right to Rise PAC.
Jeb supporter crashing Trump's party #MobileAL
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4:31 PM - 21 Aug 2015
A pro-Jeb plane taunts with its own flyby. @murphymike tells WaPo it was paid for by Right to Rise super PAC.
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4:34 PM - 21 Aug 2015
7:19 PM EST: An all-American crowd.
Line outside @realDonaldTrump rally now pushing 4-5k. We're live with an update in @CNNSitRoom at 6 w/ @wolfblitzer.
VIDEO AT LINK
2:52 PM - 21 Aug 2015
At @realDonaldTrump rally people holding "Trump/Sessions 2016" signs. Sessions applauded Trump's immigration plan.
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3:43 PM - 21 Aug 2015
People love to impersonate Donald Trump
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3:13 PM - 21 Aug 2015
7:13 PM EST: In Trump-esque fashion, the billionaire’s 757 jet flies over the Ladd-Peebles Stadium, much to the audience’s
delight.
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Jeff Poor / Breitbart News
https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...XA_normal.jpegRobert Costa
✔@costareports
The plane circled the stadium, dipping its wing twd bleachers, as people roared and the Stones played. 757 with TRUMP across its navy side.
5:56 PM - 21 Aug 2015
The crowd cheers as the Trump plane flies over the field
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3:54 PM - 21 Aug 2015
daveweigel
✔@daveweigel
The crowd cheers as the Trump plane flies over the field WATCH VIDEO AT LINK
5:54 PM - 21 Aug 2015
This is the wildest campaign I've ever seen.
WATCH VIDEO AT LINK
7:11 PM EST: To start of the rally, a group of students will recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
Prichard Prep. Students will recite the Pledge of Allegiance at tonight's Trump rally. @local15news
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3:19 PM - 21 Aug 2015
http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presid...ly-in-alabama/
What a great rally! Wonderful showing, Mobile! Thank you!
TRUMP YOU ARE 100 % RIGHT IN EVERY THING YOU SAY .YES OUR COUNTRY IS A MESS
CLEAN OUT THE WH .GOOD LUCK