Thousands of Trump Supporters Are Left Stranded For Hours In the Freezing Cold After His Omaha Rally

Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images

Thousands of Trump supporters were left stranded on an airway in the freezing cold in Omaha, Nebraska after the Trump campaign failed to organize adequate transportation for them after a rally. The MAGA supporters (many of whom were older) stood for hours in 31-degree temperatures, miles away from their cars.

According to reports on the ground, the rally attendees were waiting for buses hours after Trump already took leave on Air Force One. After waiting in confusion and uncertainty, some of the attendees decided to make the cold trek back to their cars. But others didn’t have that luxury.

According to the Omaha Police Department, seven people were transported to the hospital after the event, while thirty others were contacted by the police department for “medical reasons”. Police scanners report that some attendees were suffering from confusion and fatigue–a sign of hypothermia. Police officers who didn’t have an assignment were dispatched to the airfield to “pick up stranded people” who were “wandering in the cold.”

The rally took place at the Eppley Airfield and supporters were apparently initially brought in through the help of the Trump campaign. According to a Fox News reporter, many Trump supporters had arrived hours ahead of time for security reasons. But when it came time to get the attendees back to their cars (which were 3 miles away) the safety of their supporters became less of a priority.

The Trump campaign alleged that a traffic jam prevented buses for transporting attendees back to their cars, but that report is refuted by a local police officer who told a CNN reporter, that they “need at least 30 more buses” in order to smoothly get attendees back to their cars. It seems that lack of organization and foresight on the Trump campaign’s part is what kept his supporters from getting home safely.

It’s worth noting that this is not the first time that the Trump campaign has put the health and safety of their supporters at risk in the name of optics. The Trump campaign notoriously held an indoor rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma back in June that was attended by thousands of people. Masks were not a required, and neither was social distancing. It was at this rally that staunch Trump supporter Hermain Cain contracted COVID-19. He later passed away from complications related to the virus. It is unknown how many others were exposed to the virus at that event.

For some, the recent Omaha rally incident serves as a metaphor for how the Trump Administration treats millions of Americans who blindly support him while he fails to deliver on his false promises. Indeed, Trump has left his supporters “out in the cold” in other ways, like how he recently shelved the stimulus relief bill that would have helped millions of Americans who are on the brink of financial ruin due to COVID-19.

As Nebraska Democratic state senator Megan Hunt tweeted about the incident: “What people will do for this con man, what people have sacrificed, is so sad to me. He truly does not care about you.”