Local Trump supporters plan birthday rallies
Show of support comes after weeks of racial protests
South Florida Trump supporters are planning to be out in full force Sunday to celebrate the president’s 74th birthday with boat flotillas, a truck rally and a motorcycle ride.
The show of support comes after days of Black Lives Matter demonstrations that have spanned from West Palm Beach to Miami.
Hundreds of boats adorned with Trump flags and gear will set off Sunday from Sunrise Bay near Fort Lauderdale and head north to Lake Boca. These floating Trump rallies have been dubbed “Trumptillas.”
“We feel it is important to show him how many people appreciate what he is doing,” said John Ross, who organized the event with his finance, Joyce Schneider. “That’s what motivates us. It makes us feel good to make him feel good.”
Broward County’s first Trumptilla took place on March 7 and attracted 350 boats and about 3,000 people, Ross said.
Another Trumptilla starting in Jupiter on Sunday
will pass by Mar-aLago, the president’s estate in Palm Beach.
Supporters will express their views through other modes of transportation. A “Trucks for Trump” rally is planned in Lake Park, a town north of West Palm Beach. A motorcycle ride will start a Cracker Barrel in Stuart and head south to West Palm Beach.
In The Villages in central Florida, retirees are planning a golf cart parade.
Here are some of the events taking place on Sunday in South Florida.
■ A flotilla will assemble at 11:30 a.m. at the Square Grouper in Jupiter. Boaters will head south past Mar-aLago.
■ Broward County’s flotilla will gather at 11:30 a.m. at Sunrise Bay near Fort Lauderdale and proceed north to Lake Boca.
■ Miami-Dade’s flotilla will start assembling at 11: 30 a.m. near Sunny Isles Beach and head south to Miami. Boaters are encouraged to reserve a spot.
■ A “Trucks for Trump” event is planned for 10 a.m. at the Pirate’s Well, 9477 Highway A1A Alt in Lake Park.
■ Motorcycle riders will travel from Stuart to West Palm Beach, starting at 11 a.m. at the Cracker Barrel in Stuart, 7461 SW Lost River
Road.
In 2016, Trump won Florida by about 113,000 votes, making the Sunshine State a key battleground in the upcoming election.
Trump told reporters Wednesday that he is going to be restarting rallies with one in Florida, along with Oklahoma, Arizona and North Carolina.
A campaign email sent to supporters this week urged them to join a “national weekend of action.”
“There’s no better way to celebrate President Trump’s birthday AND remind the Radical Democrats just how strong our movement is than by having a HUGE showing this weekend,” the email read.
Broward County is one of the most Democratic counties in Florida, but Ross said most spectators were civil during the last Trumptilla.
“It is overwhelming to us how many Trump supporters are on the water,” Ross said. “When we did the original flotilla, the only thing was one fellow on the land gave us a gesture that let us know he was not a fan.”