Wind-whipped Trump doesn’t let Spencer onlookers down

Excited crowd ignores wintery weather to hear candidate

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Photo by Courtney Upah

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump visited Spencer, Iowa last weekend. Many packed into the Event Center to hear Donald Trump’s plan to “Make America Great Again.”

Courtney Upah, Staff Writer

SPENCER, Iowa— Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump didn’t let the weather stop him from visiting this Clay County town in northwest Iowa on Saturday morning.

 
The celebrity-turned-politician spoke at the Event Center in Spencer, a two-and-a-half hour drive from Wayne.

 
Citizens waited in line up to an hour to get inside the building to see Trump. The temperature was a chilling 37 degrees and the grounds were icy.

 
“I was not supposed to make it because the weather was really bad, and they said, ‘listen Trump, I don’t think you should fly today.’ I said, ‘I’m not going to let Spencer down,’” Trump said.

 
Events were canceled prior in the week at the Event Center due to bad weather, and some patrons fell on the ice outside waiting in line.

 
Two planes flew overhead while the line was first forming and people waited to enter the building. There was speculation on whether or not Trump was aboard either aircraft.

 
“There’s the man. I can see his hair whipping in the wind,” one spectator said.

 
The doors opened around 9:20 a.m., and the crowd slowly made its way inside, met by security officers from nearby towns like Algona, as well as by police dogs and metal detectors.

 
At 11:20 a.m., Iowa politician Sam Clovis took the stage. He informed the crowd that people were still filing in, had veterans stand and suggested the next time he would be on stage Clovis would introduce Trump.

 
Clovis reappeared 10 minutes later and riled up the crowd for Trump to take the stage.

 
Trump said that he decided to run for president when his wife assured him that if he ran, he would win. He made this decision to run, then announced his presidential candidacy riding down an elevator.

 
Since then, Trump feels like his campaign has gone well.

 
He mentioned that some had speculated his numbers would drop in the polls after the tragic attacks on Paris, but that was not the case. Trump said that he was told many times already that his numbers were going to decline, but he has gone up in the polls.

 
Trump is convinced that his stance on border patrol is one reason he is so high in the polls.

 
“The enthusiasm that everybody has to make America great again is unbelievable,” Trump said.

 
The “Make America Great Again” phrase is Trump’s slogan in his presidential campaign, and he mentioned this multiple times throughout his speech.

 
The Event Center was packed, people were standing and everyone seemed extremely enthusiastic about this politician. The crowd cheered and interacted with Trump. Supporters held up signs and wore stickers and various merchandise which were handed out prior to the start of the speech.

 
Towards the end of his speech, Trump asked the audience to raise their hands if they did not vote last year. No one raised a hand, so he praised the Spencer crowd, making a point of how important it is to vote and attend caucuses.

 
“In the White House, there is so much work to be done. You’re there for a short period of time, and you got to work really, really hard,” Trump said.