Trump’s Coachella Rally Went About as Well as You’d Expect
Thousands of Donald Trump’s supporters reportedly found themselves stranded Saturday night after the former president’s rally in Coachella, California.Attendees were bussed roughly five miles from parking to the venue at Calhoun Ranch, where Trump delivered a rambling 80-minute speech in scorching desert heat, during which several attendees required emergency medical attention. During his speech, Trump made several wild remarks against the state and its residents. He vowed to withhold aid from California if Governor Gavin Newsom didn’t comply with his demands to upend water conservation in the state. Once the day’s speeches were over, rallygoers found themselves stranded in the dark without enough buses to carry them back to their cars, according to The Independent. “This isn’t normal,” said one attendee, in a video on X shared by the account BlueDream. “Apparently the buses are no longer coming, or at least, there used to be like 20 buses when we were being brought here, but now there’s only like three buses operating, and it’s an absolute …” the speaker sighed as he walked past the large crowd waiting by the road. “It’s just chaos. Absolute chaos. All of us are stranded here. Everyone’s stranded here.”Coachella messThe venue where Trump held the rally is in the middle of nowhere and 5 miles from parking.The cult was lured in with bus rides to get in to the venue and then abandoned when it was over.This is the perfect metaphor for a Trump presidency.Who has a slogan? pic.twitter.com/QkLKPlTrJv— BlueDream (@58bugeye) October 13, 2024One rally attendee, Wesley Johnson, took to X to detail the chaos and confusion two hours after the rally had concluded, when he and other rallygoers still waited to be assisted. “Parking lot is a two-hour walk. Countless elderly stranded here and can’t walk anymore. No restroom facilities accessible anymore,” he wrote.Johnson eventually deleted his X posts about the incident, writing that “I was hoping some help would come from it, but all it did was cause drama.”He explained that bus drivers told him they had difficulties finding places to refuel in the area and that some had become stranded themselves. “They and the Sheriffs were all just as confused as we were,” Johnson wrote. “My story stands, but the drama got out of hand.”The Riverside sheriff’s office referred The New Republic’s questions about the logistics of the event, which included the shuttle buses, to Trump’s campaign team. In a post on Truth Social after the disastrous rally, Trump falsely claimed that “100,000” people attended his rally. The permit for the event revealed that the rally only had a capacity for 15,000. Before Trump’s rally began, a man was arrested at a security checkpoint outside the venue, carrying a shotgun, a loaded handgun, ammunition, and several fake passports.This story has been updated.
Thousands of Donald Trump’s supporters reportedly found themselves stranded Saturday night after the former president’s rally in Coachella, California.
Attendees were bussed roughly five miles from parking to the venue at Calhoun Ranch, where Trump delivered a rambling 80-minute speech in scorching desert heat, during which several attendees required emergency medical attention.
During his speech, Trump made several wild remarks against the state and its residents. He vowed to withhold aid from California if Governor Gavin Newsom didn’t comply with his demands to upend water conservation in the state.
Once the day’s speeches were over, rallygoers found themselves stranded in the dark without enough buses to carry them back to their cars, according to The Independent.
“This isn’t normal,” said one attendee, in a video on X shared by the account BlueDream.
“Apparently the buses are no longer coming, or at least, there used to be like 20 buses when we were being brought here, but now there’s only like three buses operating, and it’s an absolute …” the speaker sighed as he walked past the large crowd waiting by the road. “It’s just chaos. Absolute chaos. All of us are stranded here. Everyone’s stranded here.”
Coachella mess
The venue where Trump held the rally is in the middle of nowhere and 5 miles from parking.
The cult was lured in with bus rides to get in to the venue and then abandoned when it was over.
This is the perfect metaphor for a Trump presidency.
Who has a slogan? pic.twitter.com/QkLKPlTrJv— BlueDream (@58bugeye) October 13, 2024
One rally attendee, Wesley Johnson, took to X to detail the chaos and confusion two hours after the rally had concluded, when he and other rallygoers still waited to be assisted.
“Parking lot is a two-hour walk. Countless elderly stranded here and can’t walk anymore. No restroom facilities accessible anymore,” he wrote.
Johnson eventually deleted his X posts about the incident, writing that “I was hoping some help would come from it, but all it did was cause drama.”
He explained that bus drivers told him they had difficulties finding places to refuel in the area and that some had become stranded themselves. “They and the Sheriffs were all just as confused as we were,” Johnson wrote. “My story stands, but the drama got out of hand.”
The Riverside sheriff’s office referred The New Republic’s questions about the logistics of the event, which included the shuttle buses, to Trump’s campaign team.
In a post on Truth Social after the disastrous rally, Trump falsely claimed that “100,000” people attended his rally. The permit for the event revealed that the rally only had a capacity for 15,000.
Before Trump’s rally began, a man was arrested at a security checkpoint outside the venue, carrying a shotgun, a loaded handgun, ammunition, and several fake passports.
This story has been updated.
