Heavy rains don't dampen enthusiasm of Trump supporters ahead of Westmoreland rally

Sep. 3--Join the conversation

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Frequent and sometimes heavy rains Thursday could not keep supporters of Donald Trump from flooding Arnold Palmer Regional Airport hours before the president's scheduled campaign rally.

Drenched crowds stood in line at the Unity airport waiting to board buses to take them to a fenced-in holding area in front of the L.J. Associates hangar, where some would wait for about seven hours before the scheduled start of the rally inside the hangar. By early afternoon, it appeared there were easily more than 1,000 Trump supporters inside the holdings pens, with the only entertainment Trump-leaning political news broadcast on an oversized screen.

The rain peaked at 80% at 2 p.m. in the Latrobe area, where dropped to around 50% by 5 p.m. and is shown to be down to 12% by 8 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.

An estimated 2,000 people were expected, airport officials said Wednesday. By 5:30 p.m., the crowd appeared to have already exceeded expectations.

All were required to wear masks to enter the property, but it appears that the majority of people removed them afterward.

According to coronavirus pandemic mitigation orders from Gov. Tom Wolf, outdoor gatherings are limited to no more than 250 people. Indoor gatherings cannot have more than 25 people.

Gates were to officially open at 4 p.m., with the president scheduled to take the podium at 7 p.m.

'Four more years'

As music blasted through the hangar at the Arnold Palmer Regional, a crowd of enthusiastic Trump supporters, many of who waited for hours in the rain, occasionally broke into chants of "four more years."

As they waited, Congressman John Joyce, R- Blair, welcomed the crowed telling them they are an important part of what makes America great.

"To put it bluntly, in Pennsylvania we do not want the radical Biden-Harris platform. ...We are the steel curtain behind Donald Trump," Joyce said.

Joyce, a physician, promised the crowd: "You're going to see a vaccine much quicker than the mainstream media want you to believe."

Joyce characterized the election as a choice between freedom and socialism.

"President Trump will fight for our freedom," he said.

Some in the crowd said the former businessman who bested a crowded field of experienced politicians to win the Republican nomination four years ago piqued their interest in politics for the first time. They were an important part of the 44,000-vote margin that pushed Trump over the top in Pennsylvania in 2016.

Brian Schuilli, 32, of Plum, a registered Republican, said he never paid much attention to politics until 2016 when Trump grabbed his attention.

"I think he's a man of the people, and he has the country's interest at heart," said Schuilli.

He traveled to Westmoreland County with his grandfather, Dallas Hellings, 76, to see Trump in person. The rally was a first for the father of two and his grandfather, both of whom sported an assortment of Trump regalia.

Like Schuilli, Eric Letterio, 33, of West Newton said Trump's 2016 campaign was a political awakening for him.

"I was a first-time voter the last time. I heard all the hatred coming toward him and thought he must know what he's talking about on trade. And that's important to me," said Letterio, who operates a beverage distributorship.

He's a return customer.

Letterio said he attended a Trump rally at Pittsburgh International Airport the Sunday before the 2016 election and caught Vice President Mike Pence at a rally that year as well.

Congressman Guy Reschenthaler, R-Peters, followed Joyce to the podium. He repeated the campaign's claims that Biden is a Trojan horse for far-left Democrats and the Green New Deal.

"These are social justice warriors who want to change our way of life," he said, repeating the campaign's allegations that Biden would ban fracking and fossil fuels -- claims Biden again refuted this week in Pittsburgh.

Reschenthaler disputed the former vice president's claims, dismissing those allegations at a rally Monday in Hazelwood.

"He might come here to Pittsburgh and have the audacity to say he doesn't want to ban fracking, but we've got him dead to rights. We've got him six times on film saying he wants to ban fracking," Reschenthaler said.

Reschenthaler implied Biden is not doing to be making the decision-making.

"The only decisions they let him make is how he wants to take his coffee in the morning," Reschenthaler said.

GOP Congressional candidate Sean Parnell, who is seeking to unseat Democrat Conor Lamb, also took a turn at the podium, saying he's looking forward to helping take the speaker's gavel back from Nancy Pelsoi.

Early arrivals

Some supporters arrived before sunrise, said Dwayne Pickels, grants administrator for the Westmoreland County Airport Authority, which operates the airport. No protesters had arrived by the afternoon, and any who might show up would be kept to the edge of the airport property, Pickels said.

In 2016, Trump captured 64% of the votes, or 116,000, cast in Westmoreland County. That was almost double Hillary Clinton's tally of about 59,000.

One of those dedicated supporters who arrived close to noon was Lisa Stecz of Mutual in Mt. Pleasant Township. She was not bothered by the rain.

"I guess it's better than sweating in 90-degree weather," Stecz said.

Roger Brown of Ligonier, a volunteer directing motorists where to park, said he did not want to miss Trump's visit so close to home.

"It's probably one of a kind," Brown said.

Jackie Long, a hospice nurse from Harrison City in Penn Township, came decked out in a red-white-and-blue jacket adorned with Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan and Trump's name on the left pants leg. She had already seen Trump four times at campaign events since 2016.

She has a tattoo with the famous American Revolution flag of a rattlesnake next to the slogan of "Don't Tread on Me." In a twist, the head of the rattlesnake is a portrait of Trump, complete with his blonde hair.

When asked why she supported the president, Long said, "I just think he knows what he is doing and I trust his plan."

Wearing a "Women for Trump" T-shirt underneath her rain poncho, Patty Bonavicz drove from the Gibsonia area in northern Allegheny County to get a glimpse of the president.

Bonavicz acknowledged that she doesn't always like Trump's tweets or what he says, "but I like his actions."

As she boarded a bus to go to the staging area, Bonavicz offered a blunt explanation for her support of Trump.

"I can't live in Biden's America," she said.

Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe at 724-836-5252, [email protected] or via Twitter .

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