Trump supporters pack Bozeman arena for campaign rally

Rulean Gray, from Salt Lake City, waits in line at a rally for former President Donald Trump and Senate candidate Tim Sheehy on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally with Senate candidate Tim Sheehy on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

Supporters of former President Donald Trump attend a rally on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

Attendees applaud Tim Sheehy at a rally on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

Senate candidate Tim Sheehy speaks at a rally on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

Supporters of former President Donald Trump attend a rally on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

A couple holds at sign at a rally for former President Donald Trump on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

Supporters of former President Donald Trump attend a rally on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

People wait in line for a rally for former President Donald Trump and Senate candidate Tim Sheehy on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

Susan Reneau, of Missoula, at a rally for former President Donald Trump and Senate candidate Tim Sheehy on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

Merchandise at a rally for former President Donald Trump and Senate candidate Tim Sheehy on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

Merchandise for sale at a rally for former President Donald Trump on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

Jade Primo, of Billings, at a rally for former President Donald Trump on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

Attendees wait to enter a rally for former President Donald Trump and Senate candidate Tim Sheehy on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

J.D. Thompson, of Bozeman, at a rally for former President Donald Trump and Senate candidate Tim Sheehy on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. Thompson was a voting registration volunteer at the rally. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

Jeff Arnold, of Gallatin Gateway, Montana, at a rally for former President Donald Trump and Senate candidate Tim Sheehy on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

by KATE HESTON and TAYLOR INMAN Daily Inter Lake
| August 11, 2024 12:05 AM

A red sea of MAGA hats filled the streets outside the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman on Friday, with people of all ages gathered for Donald Trump’s first campaign appearance in the weeks following an assassination attempt on the former president and a ticket switch by the Democrats.

The indoor venue on the Montana State University campus was filled with people anxiously waiting to see the 45th president – for them, hoping he would soon become the 47th.

The rally started at 6:30 p.m. and ended around 11:30 p.m. When Trump took the stage, he spoke for nearly two hours about why a win for both him and Tim Sheehy is crucial come November.

Trump’s anticipated presence was worth traveling to for some, and even waiting in line nearly 10 hours.

“I had to see my man,” said Rulean Gray, a 72-year-old from Utah. “You can’t get any better than the best. He took a bullet for this country and for us.”

Trump’s last campaign appearance at a rally on July 13 in Pennsylvania ended abruptly after a gunman fired at the former president, grazing his ear with a bullet and creating a visual for Trump supporters to cling to. One rallygoer was killed and two others were injured.

“Stronger,” “Fight, fight, fight,” “Still standing,” and other sentiments were emblazoned on hundreds of flags, T-shirts and hats displaying the momentous image: Trump, fist in the air, blood on his check, being escorted off stage by Secret Service.

Trump’s plane Friday was diverted to land in Billings after mechanical issues, according to the Associated Press, but his late arrival didn’t dampen the spirits of supporters in the stands at Bozeman.

Ahead of the rally, Gray drove to Bozeman from Salt Lake City, getting in line at 7 a.m., waiting almost 10 hours before the doors opened at 4 p.m. She hoped to hear the former president speak about election integrity, questioning the legitimacy of President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.

“I want him to talk about how we’re going to keep the left from using voter fraud. From stealing the vote like in 2020, I need to know what we need to do as patriots to help in this election,” she said.

There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election in which Trump lost to Biden 306-232 in the Electoral College.

John Kim, 59, also traveled from out of state to see the former president – from South Korea. Kim said he follows Trump to rallies with a nongovernmental organization aimed at strengthening the relationship between South Korea and America.

“We love Mr. Trump,” Kim said. “For world peace, we need Mr. Trump.”

Some attendees focused mainly on policy as to why they supported the former president. From border security to helping small businesses, Trump follows through on his promises, according to J.D. Thompson, a volunteer helping register voters at the event.

Above all, Thompson hopes for another Trump presidency for economic issues.

“I’m a fiscal conservative and Trump is from New York. He’s really an [expletive] but aren’t all people from New York [expletives]?” he said.

Thompson hoped Trump would speak about who he is considering to be in his cabinet – a major factor for voters, he said. He also added that he would like to see Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, fill a Supreme Court vacancy.

The state of the U.S. economy is also a concern for younger voters.

“A lot of my views align with [Trump’s]. Especially after what the Democrats have done the past four years, how it’s affected my family. Everything is expensive,” said Colten McHenry, an 18-year-old from Bozeman.

A popular piece of merchandise at the rally was imaging of Trump’s mug shot, with the statement “I’m voting for the convicted felon.”

Trump became the first president to be convicted of a felony in June under 34 counts related to falsifying business records. His mug shot, like the photo of him after his assassination attempt, has become common swag among supporters.

Jeff Arnold was one of dozens dressed in the shirt.

“We have too many laws nowadays,” Arnold said in response to the June trial.

“Even the word felony,” he said, “Meh.”

WHILE MANY ATTENDEES came to Bozeman to see the former president, the rally was intended to boost political newcomer and Senate hopeful Tim Sheehy in his race against three-term Democrat Sen. Jon Tester, although most rally signage was directed toward the Trump-J.D. Vance ticket.

“[Sheehy] will be an outstanding senator, he’s a great businessman,” Trump said during the rally.

Republicans have homed in on the race as a path to win back power in the Senate. The latest polls show Sheehy with a slim lead that falls within the margin of error.

“Montana, we have the opportunity and the duty to finally retire fake moderate, vodka cranberry drinking, liberal voting two-faced career politician Jon Tester and bring in a new conservative leadership in the U.S. Senate by electing Tim Sheehy,” said Don Kaltschmidt, chairman of the Montana GOP, as he opened the rally.

Kaltschmidt was one of many Flathead Valley residents and legislators in attendance.

Republican Congressman Ryan Zinke, state Republican Rep. Braxton Mitchell and Kalispell City Councilor Sid Daoud – who is running as a Libertarian candidate for the Senate spot – was also in Bozeman for the event.

State Auditor and congressional candidate Troy Downing, Republican Sen. Steve Daines, Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen and Gov. Greg Gianforte also spoke ahead of Sheehy and Trump, among other state Republicans.

Trump expressed that he did not need to come to Montana, during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon from his Mar-A-Lago property in Florida.

“Actually, I’m going out to certain places to help certain senators get elected... I don't have to go there because I’m leading those states 35, 40, 50 points, I’m leading by record numbers, and I’m going because I want to help senators and congressman get elected,” he said.

Polls show Trump leading Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, by 15% in Montana. Trump publicly supported Sheehy as the Senate candidate in February, opting to support the newcomer over Rep. Matt Rosendale, who later ended his brief Senate bid.

At the rally, Zinke described the U.S. as a country in a battle.

“This is the most important election of our country's history because it will determine our fate,” Zinke said. “And Montana will determine our country’s fate both in the House, the Senate and [through] the president of the United States.”

Daines characterized the Bozeman rally as Tester’s “retirement party,” while Trump referred to the senior Senator as a “radical left lunatic, just like Kamala.”

Trump's Bozeman appearance was his first rally since Harris tapped Minnesota’s Democratic Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.

“I think it’s a disaster,” Zinke said about the probable Democratic ticket ahead of the rally, bashing Walz as an “elderly white man who is pushing the great state of Minnesota into the dirt.”

Walz is 60 years old, Harris is 59 and Zinke is 62.

Minnesota's June unemployment rate of 2.9% was slightly better than Montana's 3.1%.

Up for reelection himself, Zinke planned to hold a campaign rally of his own Saturday afternoon in Kalispell. Ohio's Rep. Jim Jordan was expected to stump for Zinke at the event.

Between jabs at Harris and Walz, and musings about Montana, Trump asserted to his supporters in Bozeman the importance of a win in November. Otherwise, he said the country’s prosperity is at stake.

“We better get four more years, or we won’t have a country left,” he said.

Former president Donald Trump speaks at a rally for himself and senate candidate Tim Sheehy on Feb. 9 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

Supporters of former President Donald Trump attend a rally on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

Attendees applaud Tim Sheehy at a rally on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

Senate candidate Tim Sheehy speaks at a rally on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

Supporters of former President Donald Trump attend a rally on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

A couple holds at sign at a rally for former President Donald Trump on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

Supporters of former President Donald Trump attend a rally on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

People wait in line for a rally for former President Donald Trump and Senate candidate Tim Sheehy on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

Susan Reneau, of Missoula, at a rally for former President Donald Trump and Senate candidate Tim Sheehy on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

Merchandise at a rally for former President Donald Trump and Senate candidate Tim Sheehy on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

Merchandise for sale at a rally for former President Donald Trump on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

Jade Primo, of Billings, at a rally for former President Donald Trump on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

Attendees wait to enter a rally for former President Donald Trump and Senate candidate Tim Sheehy on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston

Jeff Arnold, of Gallatin Gateway, Montana, at a rally for former President Donald Trump and Senate candidate Tim Sheehy on Aug. 9, 2024 in Bozeman. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston