President Donald Trump will be in Florida this weekend for the third weekend in a row, and for the third weekend in a row, there will be protests against Trump.
On Saturday the president is holding what he’s calling a “campaign rally” at the Orlando Melbourne International Airport on the east coast.
A post on the protest event page on Facebook says, “Our peaceful protest will be held in the designated “First Amendment Zone” at the corner of S. Apollo Blvd. and Airport Rd.” in Melbourne.
WMNF News interviewed one of the organizers, Sarah Wissig, a community activist in Orlando.
“This Saturday, President Trump has a scheduled visit to the Melbourne airport. When I heard that he was coming to central Florida, I thought it was really important to make sure that my voice and other Floridians’ voices were heard.
“So, we have a rally happening to coincide with it, to raise several concerns. I know that I’m not the only person who has a number of concerns with the Trump administration. Among them, first of all, the fact that while his administration is in turmoil, he’s taking the time to make, essentially, a campaign appearance or a pep-rally that seems to serve no other purpose and he’s doing this at an airport. I think this is especially egregious, as we’ve seen recently, his failed attempt at executive overreach in the form of a Muslim Travel Ban, which resulted in a number of people being unfairly detained at airports. We saw so many protests, nationwide at airports. I think it’s especially appalling and kind of ironic, that this event is taking place at an airport.
“Meanwhile, we see Republicans still trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act and this has an especially strong effect on Floridians, as 2.2 million Floridians rely on the Affordable Care Act for accessing healthcare, which is more than any other state. I happen to be one of them, so this has a personal effect on me. We’ve seen that they don’t have any replacement for the Affordable Care Act while they’re trying to repeal it. So this shows to me that they’re more concerned with politics than people. I think that’s important, that we draw attention to that and call for if they’re gonna repeal the Affordable Care Act, we need to know what the replacement is going to be.
“And then, finally, we want to call for an independent investigation into the Trump administration’s links to Russia. I believe that [Michael] Flynn and [Paul] Manafort are enough to warrant an independent investigation taking place. When I heard this event was taking place, I reached out to a number of other community activists and organizations that I’ve worked with in the past. For Our Future is an organization that was particularly helpful in planning the logistics of this event. We’re excited to rally with other community members to have our voices heard on Saturday.”
How many people do you expect?
“We have estimated a couple hundred, at this point, but, we shall see how it turns out Saturday.”
The AP reports that Trump filed his paperwork for 2020 re-election on January 20: Inauguration Day. White House spokesperson Sean Spicer said the rally is “being run by the campaign.” Spicer and others at the White House have not responded to repeated questions about why Trump’s campaign is organizing this rally, or about who will pay for the event logistics. According to the AP, presidents regularly hold large campaign-style events to build support for their policies. Those events are often considered part of their official duties and organized by the White House. The executive director of Trump’s campaign committee also did not respond to questions.
There’s also a “Stop the Trump agenda! Sarasota rally & march” Facebook event. It starts Saturday at noon at Five Points Park – 1 Central Ave. in Sarasota.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
11 Responses to “Protests follow President Trump to Florida”
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Good luck with the protest. The only thing that Trump pays attention to is loud, mass protest. Anything less allows him to pretend everyone loves him and the political theater he thinks is presidential leadership.
Something tells me you voted for Hillary. Lol
I am a college educated life long registered Republican with a graduate degree who voted for Clinton because Trump was and is unfit to be president. Oh yeah, and I’ve been practicing law for 30 years.
Something tells me you are none of these things and that you voted for and still support Trump. It is just a hunch.
Your magnificence overwhelms you. I raised two children as a single mother. Never went on welfare or took food stamps. We did without. I worked myself up in a good company and retired at 55. I worked hard, no one gave me anything. So, I am much more than you know. You are a pompous ass.
My “magnificence” is an illusion that is seen only when what I am is compared with you. Frankly, you are not my equal. I am your economic superior because I am your intellectual superior.
I am also your moral superior. You fall back on your humble origins as somehow justifying your condition. That may be an explanation, your poverty does not excuse your ignorance and/or lack of education. My mom rose up from poverty, too, She raised three kids on her own. She never took food stamps. And we did without, too. I vividly remember her telling us “we may be poor, but we are clean” in an attempt to instill pride.
Yeah, my mom was poor, but that didn’t stop her from graduating high school, going to college and earning a bachelor’s degree, two graduate degrees and instilled the values of education and a love of learning into me. My brother, sister and I all put ourselves through school – no Government loans – earned undergraduate and graduate degrees.
You are exactly what I know: you are an uneducated American who lacking critical thinking skills who not only voted for Trump, you still support him even though he has amply demonstrated that he is not only unfit for the job, he aspires to become a dictator.
You are free to call me a pompous ass. I am free to consider you irrelevant. Your continued support for Trump makes you irrelevant. I am going to spend my time and effort on people who are smart enough to realize they made a mistake that they need to work to fix. And that ain’t you.
OK you win. Everything you say is 100% right. Thank you for taking time from your busy schedule to set me straight. I feel renewed.
Why do people supporting Trump all over the internet constantly add that “LOL” in their posts? Is that nervous laughter? Because there isn’t anything funny going on with Trump world for either side. The GOP is right now planning to bury him.
Not nervous laughter. More like a gloat. I hope you have a 401k plan. Mine is doing great. Will you complain when he cuts your Taxes? Oh wait, you will hate him for anything he does. He could cure cancer and you would still hate him. Like it or not he is our president.
MAGA Mr. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP. USA! USA!!!
His delicate,narcissistic ego needs feeding… Otherwise he will explode!!!
On April 15, leaders will hold a peaceful “Tax March” in Washington DC and over 60 other locations nationwide. The aim of the protests will be to show Congress & Senate that there’s public demand for Trump’s taxes. Please spread the word & please march… Peacefully! Strength in numbers….