Thread by @asanderford

An early look at the airport rally for @realDonaldTrump in #Omaha.

We're having some technical difficulties with cell signal and wi-fi. Working on it.

Here’s a closer look.

Correction for deleted tweet: The president is done speaking in Wisconsin and may be able to get here about on schedule or slightly delayed, by 8 p.m.

Sorry for being told wrong and sharing it.

Angela Schock, 52, of Lincoln, said she had to come see her president because, “I’m an American, and I love Trump. He gets things done.”

Asked what he got done, she said “Israel, that he takes care of our military,” and she has a lot of military in her family.

Schock says she isn’t worried about catching coronavirus in the crowd, though she brought a face covering in case. “You have to live life while you’re here. No concerns.”

Grant Richter-Egger, 19, of Omaha, is getting ready to vote in his first presidential election. He laughed when asked whether his red “Make America Great Again” gives him away. Yes, he said, I’m voting for Trump.

Richter-Eggers: I wanted to see POTUS. He supports a lot of the things I do. The Second Amendment. He’s pro-life. “He’s done a relatively good job.” I hear people say he hasn’t. He plans to vote on Election Day, so he can see all of the information before he makes his choice.

Former 3rd District House Rep. David Young of Iowa is talking about his race, calling this the most consequential election we are going to face. Young: We're gonna get over the finish line. I may be bruised and battered but we're gonna get there.

Next up is @DonJBacon, running against @karaforcongress in #NE02's House race, the Omaha-area House race. Bacon: This is going to be a turnout election. This is the party that will keep your taxes low. We'll keep regulation low. This election is gonna be about results.

Bacon: We rebuilt the military, routed ISIS, etc.

Bacon: Last year we had the highest increase in median wages for middle-income earners, including African-Americans. Who do you trust to rebuild the economy after COVID? It's not going to be Biden.

Bacon: My opponent is a Bernie Sanders Democrat. She supports abortion until the moment of birth. (This is a common attack line. Eastman has said she's a Democrat, not a Democratic socialist.)

(Bacon did his line again: Bacon America Great Again.)

Next up is South Dakota Gov. @KristiNoem.

I'm gonna take a break to warm up my hands.

Noem: The only reason people know me is because the liberals have been beating me up for doing what's right by my state. This president has done more for our freedoms than anyone. I wouldn't have been able to do my job with Joe Biden in office. (That's not true under federalism.)

Noem: You guys are the workers. You show up. I need you to do more. Ask the person pumping gas next to you who they're voting for. Ask the people in the grocery line. There are people you've written off. They might vote for President Trump.

Next up is @SenatorFischer. Fischer: Hello Nebraska. We are here tonight to support our president, Donald Trump. As a lifelong Nebraskan, we want somebody who's going to be a straight shooter.

Fischer: That's what we've got with Donald Trump. He told us exactly what he was going to do if elected. He went to Washington and he shook things up. He takes care of veterans. Stands strong for the unborn. Stands firm on the Second Amendment.

Fischer: We have a president who supports our law enforcement officers, and we back blue. He's nominated three members of the Supreme Court. Amy Coney Barrett will be "fabulous."

Fischer: We built an economy with the president, and we will rebuild it with this president. (Biden has argued that the country won't be able to successfully rebuild the economy until the country gets control of the virus.)

Fischer: Don Bacon is truly amazing. He works hard for CD2 every single day. He carries your values to Washington and represents you in Washington. "We need him back there."

Next up is Todd Ricketts, finance chairman for the RNC. Somebody in the crowd yells "Go Cubs!" He helps run the Cubs. Family owns them.

Says he's been working for the president for three years. T. Ricketts: He sent me here to tell you a few things. We are going to win this election, no questions asked. They are not a party or a movement. They are a list of grievances. We are the party of gratitude and joy.

T. Ricketts: They are the party of rioters and looters. (Biden and other Democrats have criticized looting but defended peaceful protests.)

Next up is @GovRicketts.

Here he is speaking.

P. Ricketts: Hello Omaha. You guys look great. Y'all staying warm tonight? The Trump economy has lifted millions out of poverty, kept us safe from our enemies overseas.

P. Ricketts: He's our president, the American president. (He's giving the ISIS highlights, Iran, etc.) He moved our embassy to Jerusalem. Others promised it. Donald Trump did it. He's the most pro-life president we've ever had. He believes in protecting innocent unborn life.

P. Ricketts: "This is a president who shares our American values." That means protecting our 2nd Am rights. The president has put people on the bench who will protect our constitution. (Going through the reshaping of the federal judiciary under Trump.)

P. Ricketts: The other party's vision of America is very different than President Trump's. They have a vision of a socialist America. Rioters and looters get to do what they want. But working Americans can't. (This isn't what most Democrats argue.)

P. Ricketts: "Do we want a socialist America? No we don't. It's our turn to fight for Donald Trump." Make a commitment to vote 10 times, by reaching out to people who need to vote, friends and neighbors and co-workers.

P. Ricketts starts the four more years chant. (My hands are going numb, so forgive me fat fingering some words.)

Gonna be a little break before the president arrives.

PA announcer just offered hot chocolate and coffee stations to the crowd.

I spoke briefly with Matt G., 45, of Omaha, who said he wanted to hear the president’s plan for addressing coronavirus. He is particularly interested in hearing more about the vaccine timetable, and he appreciates the president’s approach to not letting covid “derail us.”

Matt G.: If he can portray a plan that helps people have confidence, and how he’s going to distribute the vaccine, that would help.

(A quick aside on crowd size. I see 3-5k from an old life in a lot of basketball arenas. I've heard as high as 15k. That seems high. Given that there's an area like a county fair, selling corn dogs and funnel cakes and the like I'd lean toward the high side of my estimate, 4-5k.)

(Many more people than at previous Trump rallies I've covered are wearing masks, but I'd still say less than half. Waiting on the president with some music. The oddest choice so far, Celine Dion's "The heart will go on.")

(From what I understand, the outdoor rally on the tarmac is not covered by the mask ordinance in Omaha.) Here's what my colleague @reecereports wrote about the requirements and prep for the @realDonaldTrump rally for @OWHnews.)

omaha.com/news/local/gov…

Here’s the view for me and @ChrisDunkerLJS:

I'm now hearing, and take this with a grain of salt given what I was told last, that the president is about a half hour out. ETA #Omaha about 8 p.m. Will update if I hear dif.

Also revising my crowd estimate as more folks move toward the staging area. I now think it could be 5-6k. Still hearing 14k, but just don’t see it yet.

Crowd experts out there, check me.

From crowd reaction, it looks like Air Force One is getting close. 8 p.m. might be pretty close.

Yup.

They always line up the plane for TV.

Trump: We're going to win Nebraska. And we're going to win Iowa. Says 29k people. (I don't see that.) We're going to win both Nebraska's. The choice is between the Trump economy and the Biden recession.

Trump: Says Biden has pledged the biggest tax hike in the history of the country. (Biden has said he'd only raise taxes on people making more than 400k.)

Trump: Those poll numbers are going through the roof. He says where's the fake news? (People are booing us.) Florida is looking great. Nebraska is looking great. "I didn't have to be here, but it's nice to be with friends."

Trump: Going to add school choice, make more products in the USA. Epic job growth and prosperity and a vaccine that will make the pandemic go away. We're making that vital turn. They don't like to hear it. "Normal life will fully resume. That's all we want."

Trump: Next year will be the greatest economic year in our history. Joe Biden didn't even care enough to campaign here. Moments ago, we learned why Biden has been hiding in the basement. (He's talking about the Hunter Biden allegation. Crowd eating it up.)

Trump: If Biden wins, China will own the USA. By the way, he's not a good guy, so you understand. (Some in crowd are chanting "Lock him up.") We just left Wisconsin and Michigan and it was cold. But no place you'd rather be on a 10-degree day than a Trump rally.

Trump: "When we win, you win and all of Nebraska wins."

Trump is talking about trying to end endless war. Trump: You elected an outsider as president who finally put America first. If I don't sound like a typical Washington politician, it's because I'm not a typical politician.

Trump: I fought harder for you than any president who's held the office. Joe Biden's agenda, he's shot, it's not really his agenda. He had the lid on, like from a garbage can. He went from Delaware to the closest point from his basement in Pennsylvania.

Trump: We have the greatest country in the world. The radical left Democrats. They have a radical agenda. Biden will be there for like four weeks. Then you'll have Kamala. Bernie is like a conservative compared to her. (Bernie would disagree. So would Harris.)

Trump is talking about a left plan to dismantle the suburbs. (The Dems say this is not true. I think it is a reference to the idea that equal housing rules enacted during the Obama administration would apply to the suburbs, allowing more apartments. Trump repealed the rule.)

(Trump is showing the crowd a video. It sounds like a greatest hits album from Fox News and OANN. A lot of talk about his support for police.)

(Crowd is chanting "four more years.") Trump: That video saves me a lot of words. Biden's not the right guy. "This election is a choice between the American dream, which is what we want, and a socialist nightmare." (Biden is not a socialist. He's a Democrat.)

Trump is saying Biden will delay the vaccine and shut down the country. (Biden said he wouldn't.) Trump: We are opening the country up, rebuilding the economy. We've made great progress on COVID. "Excuse me. I'm here." We had great doctors.

Trump: What we know today is so different than what we knew six months ago. "We're turning that corner. At some point, we're turning that corner."

The president is talking about lockdowns being worse than the problem itself.

Trump: Biden was willing to sacrifice your lives with open borders. (He's talking about the length of his wall.)

Trump: Biden has no plan, no idea, no clue. He just wants to lock up and throw away the key and let rioters run wild. (Biden makes the same argument about Trump, about lacking a plan. The rioters thing, both have criticized.)

Trump: We went into Minneapolis, we have to be asked in theory by the state. It took about 25 minutes. Republican-run cities are doing very well. You have a very good Republican governor. "They like you, Pete."

Trump: "The Biden plan will crush you and your family. My plan will crush the virus." (He's talking about reducing the mortality rate, which is better than Europe. It's also working from a much larger number of infections. And he's talking again about Regeneron.)

Trump: Woke up the next morning and I felt like get me outta here. I think this thing was right. "I don't have the luxury of staying in a basement." (Biden is headed to Iowa on Friday, their campaign told us yesterday.)

Trump is going through some names for coronavirus.

He's talking again about jumping into the crowd and kissing people and being safe or immune.

Trump: On Nov. 4, you won't be hearing as much about this (coronavirus). "We're rounding that beautiful turn, and the vaccines are going to make it go away a lot faster." (Experts see the virus infection rates going the other direction.)

Trump: Places in the Midwest will see rates go down like Florida. We will vanquish the vaccine. (I think he meant virus.) "The whole world will be coming back. This is a terrible thing that happened."

Trump is talking about flag-burning extremists running your government. Trump: If you listen to the fake news, you'd not know how much we're ahead. We're gonna win bigger than four years ago.

"Get out and vote. The great red wave."

Trump: "We have to deliver the radical left a thundering defeat at the ballot box." (He's saying the discussion about polls are closing. He's saying he has 29k here.)

(To clarify, he's talking about opinion polls showing momentum in his direction.)

Trump: We had tremendous crowds in Wisconsin and Michigan. Biden gets a handful of people. He said today we don't seek large crowds because of COVID. "That's a hell of an excuse." He calls of Deb Fischer fantastic. Says she's his favorite senator from Nebraska.

Trump: Between her and @joniernst from Iowa, they call all the time, needing help with corn and ethanol. Joni, thank you very much, I heard you're doing very well. I just saw some numbers. Deb, you don't have to worry about numbers. Mentions @JeffFortenberry, who is here.

Trump: Where is @DonJBacon? Crowd cheers. You better get me Omaha. President says Bacon's cheer is about as good as he's heard. (Bacon is in a competitive race with @karaforcongress in #NE02.) He mentions @RepAdrianSmith.

Trump is talking about the USMCA trade deal, which is important to Nebraska farmers and ranchers. Trump: Companies will not be leaving Nebraska and Iowa. When China targeted our farmers I delivered 28 billion to our farmers.

Trump: Joe Biden's running mate is the most liberal member of the United States Senate. (She's not usually rated that high, but she's a senator serving California, which definitely leans to the left.)

Trump is going through his greatest hits. Talking ethanol, military modernization, trade. He's talking about nuclear weapons, a nod to STRATCOM and @Offutt_AFB. Talking about killing the leader of ISIS and the Iranian general.

He's talking about opening the American embassy in Jerusalem. Trump: Instead of never-ending wars in the Middle East, we have peace deals lining up.

Trump: "We're forging peace all over the Middle East without leaving blood in the sand."

Trump: In conclusion, over the next four years, we will make America the leading manufacturer in the world, we will hire more police, increase penalties for assaults, defend religious liberties, free speech and the right to keep and bear arms.

Trump: We will ensure peace through strength. We will end surprise medical billing. We will have medical transparency.

Trump: We will keep lowering drug prices, and we will protect pre-existing conditions. (He has said he wants the courts to overturn the Affordable Care Act and that he'd replace it, but hasn't specified what he'd replace it with.)

Trump: "For years you had a president who apologized for America. Now you have a president who is standing up for America."

"The great red wave is coming."

Trump: We're supposed to be a little behind. But that wave comes and I think we're gonna win everything.

Trump: "On Nov. 3, we must finish the job we started." No administration, it's us altogether, has done what this administration has done. We inherit the legacy of Nebraska patriots who gave their blood, sweat and tears. "The best is yet to come."

Trump: Together we are taking back this country and handing power back to you, the American people. We are going to keep on fighting. We will keep on "winning, winning, winning."

Trump: "We have America powerful again. We have America wealthy again. We have made America strong again. We have made America proud again. We have made America safe again. And we will make America great again."

(OK. I think we're done. If I got something wrong, or corrected something in real time inaccurately, please let me know. Thanks for following along.)

@threadreaderapp Please unroll.

And Air Force One is wheels up at 9:06 p.m.

If you’re waiting on someone who attended the @realDonaldTrump rally in #Omaha, it may be a while until they get on a bus and get out. Traffic along the small roadway to the private side of Eppley Airfield is backed up and buses were having trouble getting through. We saw this:

Spoke just now to the @realDonaldTrump campaign re: the folks still trying to leave. They say they have the plenty of buses but are having trouble getting them to people still waiting because traffic flow on the small, two-lane airport access road is limited to one direction.

They say they have no estimate for how long clearing the area might take, but to my eye, it could take into the early morning to get folks cleared out.

As we were walking, I saw at least two @OmahaPolice officers helping people who were getting cold, one elderly lady and a young boy.

Looks like most people have made their way to buses or walked out and are finding their way to their cars. Will update if I hear differently. Please let me know by DM or tweet if you’re still part of a crowd that’s waiting.