If anyone thought Donald Trump‘s legals woes would eat into his public support in red state America then no one thought to tell the people of Pickens, South Carolina.
Its population of 3,300 was swollen by thousands more who crammed into its main street to see the former president hold his first rally since being being charged with mishandling classified documents.
Supporters behind him waved ‘witch hunt’ signs as he described how he had been charged under the Espionage Act.
‘Me? the espionage act?’ he said, describing how it was a an ‘act for crimes so heinous’ that the death penalty was needed.
‘it’s one of the most vicious legal theories ever put in a court of law. there’s never been anything like this,’ he added.
Insiders said the words were not the most important thing. The size of the crowd was what mattered about the day, making it a huge show of support.
Thousands of people crammed into Pickens main street on Saturday despite sweltering temperatures to see former President Donald Trump hold a rally
And it brought the former president to one of the early state’s most pro-Trump counties, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The tiny city of Pickens closed its streets for the former president, packing in supporters who had traveled from North Carolina and Georgia, as well as South Carolina.
They stood on Main Street, between the county courthouse and Biven’s hardware store.
They heard Trump describe how as president he had ‘absolute right’ to declassify documents.
Supporters cheered.
‘It’s all B.S.,’ said Rick Fisher, a retired general contractor, when asked whether the charges would undermine Trump’s support. ‘They can’t beat him any other way. They have to cheat.’
He added that he had come simply to hear and see Trump.
‘He just makes you feel better,’ he said. ‘Knowing what he can do for the economy.’
It showed that the charges had made little difference to Trump’s bedrock of support in rural America, said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as she shuttled between TV cameras before the former president arrived.
‘It shows Trump is going to win,’ she said.
Trump invited the Rushingbrook Children’s Choir, from nearby Greenville, to perform after they were prevented from signing the national anthem at the U.S. Capitol
Trump hit his favorite themes, dinging ‘crooked Hillary and accusing the Biden family of corruption. He ridiculed Biden’s verbal gaffe this week when he muddled Iraq and Ukraine.
‘if you look at the leaders of the world, these people are at the top of their game President Xi and Kim Jong-un and I could name almost every country, but we have somebody that’s not at all…. he said.’
Saying twice this week, as an example, that Russia is losing the war to Iraq.’
The rally also gave Trump the chance to show off his support in a state that two of his rivals for the Republican nominations — former Gov. Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott — call home.
Campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said the festival setting would give Trump a chance to meet people up close. ‘Retail politics on steroids,’ he called it.
‘We’ll still have rallies,’ he said.
‘We’re trying to we’re trying to do a lot of different things, and a lot of non-traditional things. This is one of them.’
Trump’s event is part of the city’s ‘Independence Day Spectacular,’ which includes a fireworks display at dusk. City-center roads will be closed to hold the crowds.
The city of Pickens had been planning the event for eight months. Then Sen. Lindsey Graham called a few weeks ago to ask if Trump could speak, according to Bryan Owens, the city’s marketing director.
‘The reason they chose Pickens is because it’s quaint, historic and beautiful,’ he told WSPA, the local CBS affiliate.
‘We want to be able to showcase that to the world. Just like anybody else, we welcome anybody who wants to come to Pickens and see the beauty we have to offer.’
Trump was forced to cancel a rally in Iowa last month as a storm closed in. Workers are pictured dismantling structures at the site after it was postponed
But the V.I.P. guest created a headache, forcing officials to work out how they could fit the expected crowds into the city-center.
Trump invited the Rushingbrook Children’s Choir, from nearby Greenville, to perform.
The choir went viral with a video showing them singing the national anthem in the U.S. Capitol only for them to be stopped by police.
Officers initially said they were preventing a ‘demonstration’ only for them to backtrack and claim there had been a miscommunication.
Trump was on friendly territory. The county voted 74 percent in his favor at the 2020 election, and attendees are expected to come from its near neighbors of North Carolina and Georgia.
Rallies are a key part of Trump’s strategy, like this one he held in Waco, Texas, in March
Trump’s last rally was planned for Des Moines, Iowa, in May but had to be abandoned amid tornado warnings.
Trump is the clear frontrunner for the G.O.P. nomination and is frequently polling about 50 percent among Republicans when asked for their primary pick.
On Friday evening, he addressed the Moms for Liberty summit in Philadelphia.
He welcomed the decision by the Supreme Court to end President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan.
‘Today, the Supreme Court also ruled that President Biden is not allowed to wipe out trillions of dollars in student loan debt, which would have been very unfair to the millions of people who have paid their debt through hard work and diligence,’ he said.