Trump Jr. a hit at GOP fundraiser; Sarah Palin a miss for some donors
Donald Trump Jr. was a hit. Sarah Palin was not.
The son of the president wasn’t even on the program, but he delighted the Republican Party faithful gathered around the pool at his father’s Mar-aLago Club in Palm Beach when he dropped by the VIP reception just before the annual Lincoln Day fundraising dinner Friday evening.
Trump exchanged small talk and patiently allowed dozens of people to crowd around to snap pictures.
He didn’t deliver a speech — but got rave reviews.
“Everybody was excited to see him,” said Tami Donnally, vice chairwoman of the Palm Beach County Republican Party.
“I found him to be a very, very nice and friendly man — very kind, very generous, very patient,” Donnally said, even as people crowded around hoping to get a word, and a picture, with the president’s eldest son.
As for Palin, the unsuccessful 2008 vice presidential candidate delivered a 31-minute dinner speech that offered themes similar to what she used to talk about during her time in the spotlight, with some updates for the Trump era. Among her topics: The president “Our president is attacked because he represents an awakening. You the people’s movement … it is a threat to the corrupt power and wealth system that has, it’s betrayed us for far too long. Trump’s candidacy ripped the veil off that system that has betrayed us.”
Concerns about possible meddling
in the 2016 election, which she referred to as “that Russian obsession.”
“It’s an offense to Americans who voted for him, and we know why we voted for him. We did because candidate Trump knew what was at stake and the power is controlled, and it’s trillions of dollars. So we will not just idly sit by and let the deep state nullify the election with their shenanigans and their expensive antics, like the resource-sucking investigations to nowhere.” Economics
Palin praised reductions in taxes and regulations, imposition of tariffs on imported steel and aluminum (“We won’t act dumb and let a foreign regime just dump their metals, their product, on the market”) and Trump energy policies (“finally we can drill, baby, drill).” Upcoming elections
“Friends, our country, we are at war, for the future of it. … From veto to subpoena power to blocking or approving nominees. To redistricting, to gridlock or no gridlock, the next vote is monumental and we need fighters in each and every office,” she said. “We must advocate and activate and educate so that all of America will grasp what is at stake. We must not hibernate. Because, believe me, the left is loaded for bear.”
The luxury of Mar-aLago, which the former Alaska governor was visiting for the first time.
“This is so beautiful. I’ll bet the first family loves it here. It must be a nice break from swimming in the swamp [Washington, D.C.], and fending of attacks, and, shoot, taking blame for just about everything. The president gets blamed for just about everything.”
Many in the the audience lost interest about a quarter of the way through the speech. Attendees voted with their voices, which kept getting louder and louder as Palin spoke, eventually sounding like a roar — so noticeable that she made comments noting the audience’s lack of attention.
“The first 10 minutes was inspirational. The last 10 minutes was blah, blah, blah, blah. She went way too long,” said Lori Konis, of Coral Springs, an independent who voted for Trump in 2016.
Jim Volpe, who was Trump campaign manager in Lake County, territory where Palin drew large, enthusiastic crowds in 2008, agreed. “Too long,” he said.
Palin got better marks for an earlier, small-group reception where she mingled with about 30 major donors. Sue Snowden, who was the Palm Beach County chairwoman for the president’s campaign in 2016, said Palin was lovely at the pre-VIP reception. “I’ve always liked her. I always like candidates who speak their mind. I admire that she stepped up and ran, and then she was treated so unfairly.”
Jay Narang, of Pembroke Pines, praised Trump as “just like another guy.” Narang said he was surprised Trump stayed 30 to 45 minutes chatting with people and taking pictures. “People were thinking he’d be gone in a couple of minutes,” he said.
Bonnie Re, of Boca Raton, who was the South Palm Beach County coordinator for U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign and didn’t become a Trump supporter until her candidate dropped out, said she was impressed with Trump Jr. “He was very pleasant to everyone. He didn’t chase anybody away or anything.”
Perhaps the greatest applause of the evening from the 700 people in the Mara-Lago ballroom was for Coral Springs police Sgt. Jeff Heinrich.
U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, a former Parkland resident whose district includes northern Palm Beach County, introduced Heinrich, who was off duty and responded to the Feb. 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in which 17 people were killed and 17 were wounded.
Mast described Heinrich as a hero who had to decide whether to take cover or “charge into the breach. Sergeant Heinrich made a hero’s choice. He raced into gunfire.”
The Palm Beach Republican Party began holding its Lincoln Day dinner, in the “Donald J. Trump Grand Ballroom” at Mar-a-Lago, long before Trump was a presidential candidate.
Party Chairman Michael Barnett said he didn’t yet have an estimate for what the party raised. About 280 people attended the VIP reception at $750 each and about 400 attended the dinner at $350 a ticket. The pre-VIP reception brought in more revenue.
Gov. Rick Scott, who is widely expected to announce a candidacy for U.S. Senate, canceled his appearance at the dinner because of Thursday’s bridge collapse at Florida International University in west Miami-Dade County.
Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor, and state House Speaker Richard Corcoran, who may run for governor, both attended the dinner, which allowed them to schmooze with party activists and major political donors.
U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, who is also running for governor, didn’t attend. He opted instead for a much larger audience of Republicans, via a Friday night appearance on the Fox News show “Hannity.”
The logo for the event was Abraham Lincoln in a stovepipe hat with lettering from the Constitution and “#MAGA” emblazed across the front. That stands for Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan, Make America Great Again.
Dinner ended with the “Mar-a-Lago Trio” for dessert: chocolate bomb, made with “Trump chocolate cake,” red, white and blue sauces. The Lincoln Day logo was on a piece of white chocolate.