SAN ANTONIO, Texas — When President Trump arrived for a get-out-the-vote rally at San Antonio’s Joe Freeman Coliseum on Wednesday, the venue was nearly at capacity, with several thousand eager rally-goers still in line outside. The jovial crowd, still hoping to enter, listened to speakers inside via an outdoor jumbotron.
Several food and beverage trucks were stationed on the coliseum grounds, offering refreshments as a Texas-sized crowd of excited Republicans endured a warm afternoon standing in line. Breitbart Texas reported from outside the venue as hopeful attendees arrived early Wednesday morning, hoping to be first in line when the doors opened at 2:00 p.m.
(Randy Clark/Breitbart Texas)
Vendors hawking apparel and merchandise bearing President Trump’s name and likeness moved about the grounds as the start time neared. The Wednesday night rally is President Trump’s third visit to the state since late September. The high-profile campaign visit to the Alamo City likely signals how important keeping Republicans in elected office is to the President as the November election nears.
Texas Attorney General and U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton appeared at the event with Carlos de la Cruz, a Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives.
Outside the venue, at least 200 organized protesters gathered, some carrying signs critical of the President’s immigration enforcement policies and others supporting Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico. Many of the signs carried vulgar anti-ICE messages or extremely unflattering images of President Trump.
“I’ll never forgive Texas if Talarico wins,” Trump warned the cheering crowd as he pressed conservative voters to maximize turnout across the state.
Shortly before 6:00 p.m., the U.S. Secret Service and local law enforcement officials closed major thoroughfares around the event before the President’s motorcade arrived. Breitbart Texas observed the motorcade’s arrival, which included more than 30 vehicles, including dozens of San Antonio Police Department motorcycle officers. The motorcycle officers cleared the way for the President’s motorcade, which left for the event minutes after Air Force One touched down at Kelly Field.
(Randy Clark/Breitbart Texas)
The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) and the Bexar County Democrats organized the protests, Breitbart Texas reported. Both groups began advertising the protests soon after the Trump administration announced that Wednesday’s rally would take place in San Antonio. Both groups used social media to promote their protests along busy Houston Street outside the Joe Freeman Coliseum.
In an Instagram post, the PSL promoted its protest by highlighting the group’s well-known anti-ICE stance. In part, their post read, “San Antonio is a majority Hispanic city, devastated disproportionately by Trump’s campaign of terror through ICE. With one in four deportations happening in Texas, the horror is palpable. But Texas is not a lost cause. Texas has never sat idly by. Join us to stand up and fight back and show Trump that he is NOT welcome in our state!”
President Trump reminded the attendees of the disastrous border and immigration policies of the Biden presidency. He warned that those policies would quickly return if Democrats regain control in Washington.
“If they get in, they will open your borders and let the entire world pour in like they did before. We can’t let that happen,” Trump told the cheering crowd. “A vote for Talafreako is a vote to turn Texas into a dirty, failing, crime-ridden third-world dumping ground.”
The president added, “The people of Texas are NOT going to let weak, gutless, self-hating, transgender-promoting FREAK SHOWS destroy everything that we’ve built.”
Protesters outside the event and arriving rally-goers remained separate as law enforcement authorities patrolled the streets and coliseum grounds in large numbers. The protesters remained peaceful as the rally inside the coliseum took place.
Early voting will start on October 19 and run through October 30. Election day is slated for Tuesday, November 3.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
Bob Price is the Breitbart Texas-Border team’s associate editor and senior news contributor. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday morning talk show. He also serves as president of Blue Wonder Gun Care Products.