An estimated 5,000 people crowded the Jefferson County Fairgrounds Oct. 29 to hear Donald Trump at a campaign stop announced just two days earlier.
"In 10 days we are going to win the state of Colorado," Trump said near the start of his 52-minute speech in the swing county, which is about evenly divided among Republican, Democrats and unafilliated voters.
The tone and topics of his speech followed familiar Trump-Pence themes, with a few small nods to Colorado-specific topics. Trump repeated his pledge to "repeal and replace Obamacare," saying that Coloradoans in particular were about to receive bad news about health insurance premiums rising as a result of the program.
Also adding some local flavor to the rally were introduction speeches by Colorado politicians, including Colorado State Sen. Laura Woods, a Republican who is up for reelection in Senate District 19, representing Arvada and Westminster.
Nine minutes into his talk, Trump brought up his presidential opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the latest revelation that the FBI still might investigate her use of a private email server during her time in that position.
Trump paused on several occasions to crowd chants of "Lock her up! Lock her up!" He also earned big cheers from the crowd when criticizing Clinton's support of bringing more Syrian refugees to the United States.
"The Hillary refugee plan would leave us with generations and generations of radicals and terrorists," Trump said.
Republican state Sen. Tim Neville, who represents District 16, the area around the Jeffco Fairgrounds and to the west, said Trump's words on anti-corruption stuck with him.
"You need to clean up government, or no one will trust government," Neville said.
Another repeated theme of Trump's speech was criticism of the media.
"Boy, are they going to die when we win this," Trump said of the media, saying he wouldn't bother taking their calls once he wins.
Trump also said the murder rate in the United States is "the highest it has been in 45 years." But although annual FBI crime statistics show the recent increase in murder rates in urban areas are the largest seen in 45 years, it is also true the national murder rate remains at historically low levels.
One more recurring theme of Trump's speech was about the movement behind the campaign.
"She (Clinton) is a candidate of yesterday," Trump said near the end of his talk. "We, all of us, are a movement of tomorrow."
Ana Maria Chiafalo, of Highlands Ranch, and her husband count themselves a part of that movement. A first-generation immigrant, she attended the rally with a sign that read "Latina for Trump."
"We know the platform he's standing on and we're 100 percent behind it," she said.
When asked about why her candidate seems to be polling so poorly with other Latinos, Chiafalo said much of that perception is due to Hispanic media, which she calls biased.
"If you talk to other legal Hispanics, they feel the same as I do," Chiafalo said. "It's not about immigrants, it's about legal immigrants."
When asked after the rally why some prominent GOP politicians had chosen to distance themselves from Trump, Neville, who is not up for reelection this year, said he thought they were just focused on their own elections instead.
"He has a strong agenda and a strong platform that I think all Republicans can support," Neville said, though he conceded that personality may be an issue.
A group of about half a dozen Trump protesters with signs gathered near the back of the rally crowd. Among them was Deanna from Lakewood, who came with her adult daughter. Deanna said she was not comfortable giving out her full last name in earshot of several hostile Trump supporters who were ringing the group.
"We just wanted to observe, see what he wanted to say, see what other people wanted to say," Deanna said.
Earlier in the rally, Deanna said she had several "civil and adult" discussions with Trump supporters, talking about positions, and seeing if they could find common ground. As the rally-goers dispersed, however, the group found itself surrounded by less congenial Trump supporters.
"We've had three individuals calmly escorted away from our vicinity by police," Deanna said, gesturing to the ring of law enforcement officers who had quietly taken up positions between the two groups.
Jeffco Sheriff's Department spokesman Mark Techmeyer said 12 law enforcement agencies helped with security and traffic during the campaign stop, including Lakewood, Golden and Westminster police departments, in partnership with the U.S. Secret Service and the TSA.
Techmeyer said no arrests were reported at the rally.Donald Trump chose Jefferson County, a swing county in a swing state, as the site of one of his political rallies on Saturday, Oct. 29.
The event, announced just two days ahead of time, drew an estimated 5,000 people, according to the Jeff co Sheriff's Department.
"In 10 days we are going to win the state of Colorado," Trump said near the start of his 52-minute speech.
The tone and topics of his speech were familiar to anyone familiar with the Trump-Pence campaign, with a few small nods to Colorado-specific topics. Trump repeated his pledge to "repeal and replace Obamacare" saying that Coloradoans in particular were about to receive bad news about health insurance premiums rising as a result of the program. He did not give any source or specifics for that claim.
Also adding some local flavor to the rally were introduction speeches by Colorado politicians, including Colorado State Senator Laura Woods, who is up for reelection in Senate District 19, representing Arvada and Westminster.
Nine minutes into his talk, Trump brought up his presidential opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the latest revelation that the FBI still might investigate her use of a private email server during her time in that position.
Trump paused on several occasions to crowd chants of "Lock her up! Lock her up!" He also earned big cheers from the crowd when criticizing Clinton's support of bringing more Syrian refugees to the United States.
"The Hillary refugee plan would leave us with generations and generations of radicals and terrorists," Trump said.
Colorado state senator Tim Neville, (R --; SD-16) who represents the area around the Jeffco Fairgrounds, and to the west, said Trump's words on anti-corruption stuck with him.
"You need to clean up government, or no one will trust government," Neville said.
Another repeated theme of Trump's speech was criticism of the media.
"Boy are they going to die when we win this," Trump said of the media, saying he wouldn't bother taking their calls once he won.
Trump played loose with the facts on occasion. He claimed the murder rate in the United States is "the highest it has been in 45 years." While annual FBI crime statistics show that the recent increase in murder rates in urban areas are the largest seen in 45 years, it is also true that the national murder rate is still at historically low levels.
One more recurring theme of Trump's speech was about the movement behind the campaign.
"She (Clinton) is a candidate of yesterday. We, all of us, are a movement of tomorrow," Trump said near the end of his talk.
Ana Maria Chiafalo, of Highlands Ranch, and her husband count themselves a part of that movement. A first generation immigrant, she attended the rally with a sign that read "Latina for Trump."
"We know the platform he's standing on and we're 100 percent behind it," she said.
When asked about why her candidate seems to be polling so poorly with other Latinos, Chiafalo said much of that perception is due to Hispanic media, which she calls biased.
"If you talk to other legal Hispanics, they feel the same as I do. It's not about immigrants, it's about legal immigrants," Chiafalo said.
When asked after the rally why some prominent GOP politicians had chosen to distance themselves from Trump, Neville, who is not up for reelection this year, said he thought they were just focused on their own elections instead.
"He has a strong agenda and a strong platform that I think all Republicans can support," Neville said, though he conceded that maybe personality was an issue.
Trump protesters were few and far between at the rally, a group of about half a dozen with a couple signs gathered near the back of the rally crowds. Among the protesters was Deanna L, from Lakewood, who came with her adult daughter. Deanna said she was not comfortable giving out her full last name in earshot of several hostile Trump supporters who were ringing the group.
"We just wanted to observe, see what he wanted to say, see what other people wanted to say," Deanna said.
Earlier in the rally, Deanna said she had several "civil and adult" discussions with Trump supporters, talking about positions, and seeing if they could find common ground. As the rally-goers dispersed however, the group found itself surrounded by less congenial Trump supporters.
"We've had three individuals calmly escorted away from our vicinity by police," Deanna said, gesturing to the ring of law enforcement officers who had quietly taken up positions between the two groups.
Jeffco Sheriff's Department spokesman Mark Techmeyer said a total of 12 different law enforcement agencies helped with security and traffic during the campaign stop, including Lakewood, Golden and Westminster police department, in partnership with the U.S. Secret Service and the TSA.
Techmeyer said that there were no arrests reported at the rally.
from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.com/stories/Trump-comes-to-Jeffco,238299
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