South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Rallies held across South Florida to support outgoing President Trump
Some supporters of President Trump are not going quietly.
Rallies were held across South Florida on Saturday as the president prepares to leave office and return to Mar-a-Lago in the Town of Palm Beach.
One of the larger, louder rallies was held about noon at PGA Boulevard and Military Trail, unofficially known as Trump Corner. Supporters have held demonstrations at that intersection on Friday afternoons, especially in the weeks leading up to the election.
Chants echoed, flags waved, and horns blared as traffic passed by more than 100 avid demonstrators expressing their support for President Trump in Palm Beach Gardens.
Mary Anderson joined the crowd wearing a Trump T-shirt, Trump cap, carrying a Trump flag and clutching a Trumpy Bear stuffed animal.
“I just want to support my president,” she said. “I love him.”
She feels a kinship with fellow supporters that has kept her coming to these rallies that have been a regular sight on this corner for four years.
Willy Guardiola has been organizing these weekly rallies since 2016. He was also among about 40 people who took a 42-hour bus ride to Washington D.C. on Jan. 6.
“Best rally I’d ever been to in my life,” he said of the insurrection that left five dead. He compared those who stormed the Capitol to wedding crashers.
Jack Cirrincione rode his motorcycle from Jupiter. He’s attended about a dozen of these rallies and said he’ll keep coming back for more to “support the real president.”
“[Joe Biden] is a communist,” he said. “Socialism is a polite way of saying communism.”
Simultaneous rallies were held Saturday at Freedom Corner, at Oakland Park Boulevard and U.S. 1 in Fort Lauderdale, another in Coral Springs, and one at the Freedom Tower, 600 Biscayne Blvd. in Miami, but the turnout was not as large as the one in Palm Beach Gardens.
Some people held signs that called, “China Joe Biden a Corrupt Liar [who is] Not My President.”
Not everyone in the crowd was in denial that Biden would be the next president.
Some just wanted to show their gratitude for
President Trump after his four years in office. They carried signs that read: “Thank You President Trump” and “We Love Trump.”
Some felt betrayed by Vice President Mike Pence and held “Trump-Pence” campaign signs aloft, but Pence’s name was crossed off. Pence became a target of Trump supporters when he refused to attempt to stop the congressional ratification of the Electoral College ballots that gave Biden the presidency. The vice president is not vested with any such power.
In the end, Guardiola was confident things would work out in Trump’s favor.
“No, Joe Biden’s not going to be sworn in on the 20th,” he said. “I have a sixth sense that divine intervention is going to take place.”