LONDONDERRY, NH — Scores of parked cars and charter buses lined the small roadways around Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in New Hampshire, as thousands of people turned out to see President Donald Trump speak at a Sunday afternoon rally here.
The scene — complete with blaring rock music, vendors hocking T-shirts and trinkets, abundant makeshift signs, and attendees decked out in all manner of pro-Trump gear — had the feel of an NFL tailgate party, aided in part by the buoyant crowd as they queued up to pass through security gates, the crisp fall weather, and the 1 p.m. start time.
Among the crowd were plenty of Massachusetts residents.
“We’re tired of it. We’re fighting for our boy Trump. We won’t stop until he’s in the finish line,” said Cape Cod resident Ken LeBlanc.
“I’m tired of the politics. I’m tired of the flu vaccines. Don’t tell me to vaccinate my children,” he said. “It’s about the economy. It’s about military. It’s about supporting our police.”
Mary Martocci and Ryan Granpetro traveled from just outside Worcester. They said they both just turned 18 and will be first-time voters this year.
“This would never happen in Massachusetts,” said Martocci, of the rally. “I love Trump.”
Young voters in general are expected to break for former Vice President Joe Biden. A recent poll from Axios and Survey Monkey found that voters under the age of 35 favor Biden in 40 of the 50 states, including Massachusetts and New Hampshire. So what swayed these two young voters to Trump?
“Do your research. Don’t watch the news. Half of it’s all b******t,” said Granpetro.
And what might people learn if they did the research, according to Granpetro?
“That Biden’s a crook,” he said.
Braintree residents Joe Silveira and Ryan Dykas said that the economy is the chief issue for them in 2020, and they believe Trump is better suited to manage it successfully.
“It’s very tough to support your president where we live right now,” said Silveira. “So we came all the way out here with people like us. The silent majority’s gonna speak. And I am part of the silent majority.”
Dykas agreed, adding that Trump’s support of Second Amendment rights are another major factor in his decision to support the president. “I’m trying to be a police officer and he’s the one who’s still inspiring me to be a police officer.”
As for Trump’s speech, he turned largely to his greatest hits. He talked up the crowd sizes at his rallies and criticized everything from his opponent’s energy and acumen to the media to the polls. He warned about potential fraud with expanded mail-in voting and knocked NFL players who kneel — to big applause from the crowd.
While the CDC announced Sunday that the U.S. has seen 472,000 new coronavirus cases in the past seven days, Trump said the virus is in retreat. Vaccines are in the works, he said, and "that will quickly end the pandemic. It's ending anyway. We are rounding the turn, but the vaccine will get it down fast because we want normal life to resume. We just want normal life."
He also addressed a few issues specific to voters here in the Granite State, including the opioid crisis and a natural gas pipeline that he said would get built in his second term — despite opposition in New York — that he promised would reduce energy cost for New Hampshire residents by as much as 70 percent.
While Trump was on stage, the New Hampshire Union Leader editorial board announced that it was endorsing Biden in the race — the first time the conservative leaning newspaper has backed a Democrat for president in over a century.
Biden currently leads Trump by double digits in New Hampshire, in the Real Clear Politics national polling average, with little over a week until Election Day.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct dateline to Londonderry and to correct the spelling of Ken LeBlanc’s name.
