Trump Daytona Speech: 45 Minutes Late to a Packed House, Protesters Escorted Out, Talarico in the Attack Video
The president's speech started at least 45 minutes behind schedule with a line still outside, was interrupted at least three times by protesters, and put Texas Senate candidate James Talarico on the big screen.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - President Donald Trump took the Ocean Center stage at least 45 minutes behind his scheduled 7 p.m. Eastern start on Friday night, closing his final Florida rally of the midterm campaign four days before Election Day. The delay was visible outside the building: at 7:59 p.m., an hour after Trump was supposed to speak, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported the line still snaked outside, and its updated headline on the night recorded that Trump arrived to a packed house in the 9,300-seat convention center - a room the same paper had photographed with plenty of empty seats at 6:30 p.m., before the motorcade arrived from Daytona Beach International Airport at 7:48.
The speech itself was interrupted at least three times by protesters, the News-Journal reported. One man wore a red shirt reading "Release the Files," a reference to the Epstein files, and was escorted out. As another protester was being led out, Trump quipped: "Paid by Soros," a reference to Democratic financier George Soros. The president complained that another protester had cut him off as he was delivering a good punchline. Inside the hall, the program's sharpest segment came at 8:32 p.m., when Trump showed a video of clips of Democratic candidates and politicians - including Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, Rep. Ilhan Omar and former Sen. Sherrod Brown - making statements on police funding, transgender rights and immigration policies. He also criticized Florida's Democratic candidates David Jolly and Angie Nixon, the opponents of the Byron Donalds and Ashley Moody candidacies he came to support.
Texas ran through the speech a second way. The Wall Street Journal's live coverage reported that Trump poked fun at himself over his pronunciation of the word "vegan," saying first lady Melania Trump had corrected how he said it. Trump has used the word while mocking Talarico for an alleged meatless diet - an allegation Talarico has denied, the Journal noted. It is the second straight Friday Trump has closed a Florida rally for Donalds and Moody; the Texas Senate race he keeps reaching for from the Florida stage is decided Tuesday, when Talarico faces Ken Paxton for the seat.
