Thousands of people gathered in Belgrade this weekend for President Donald Trump’s fourth visit to Montana to spur support for Republicans in the finals days before the midterm election. Once the airplane hangar turned Trump rally site at the Bozeman Yellowstone Airport filled up, an overflow crowd gathered outside its doors to listen to the President’s voice applifed from nearby speakers.
A large field divided the rally-goers from a couple dozen critics of the President who waved signs that read things like "Love Trumps Hate" and "Don’t Believe the Lies" at passing cars.
But from the overflow crowd came only vocal support for the President and his agenda.
They cheered when they overheard loudspeakers at the rally blast: “Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.”
Doug Marshall stood among the crowd listening.
“I wanted to see what Trump crowds were really like. I just wanted to see the people that were here and make my own evaluation of who they are, where they came from, if I like them, don’t like them, offended by them, not offended by them," Marshall said.
His take away? He says the Trump crowd is roughly his kind of people. Some were there to see the President in person, having already voted for his local Republican backers. Others were there to just see what Trump rallies were like, having seen them on TV before. Others still hadn’t voted and were using the rally as one final chance to inform their decision.
Marshall says he grew up poor in a working class family, although he now works as a lawyer in Bozeman.
He says he voted for Trump in 2016, but this year cast his ballot for Democrats Jon Tester for the U.S. Senate and Kathleen Williams for the U.S. House. He calls himself a “true Montana voter,” voting for whomever he thinks is the best candidate, regardless of party.
Most of the people I spoke with, like Marshall, had already voted, although most, like David Folsom from Bozeman, had voted for Republicans.
"The biggest things for us is pro-family, pro-life, pro-Israel," Folsom said, and that Republicans Matt Rosendale running for the U.S. Senate and Greg Gianforte for the U.S. House support those issues.
By the time Trump flew in on Air Force One, around 43 percent of registered voters in Montana had already cast their ballot.
For people like Jennifer Brewer, a nurse in Helena, the rally was one final way to learn about the candidates and political agendas she could align with.
“Just to see everyone’s views and make an informative decision," said Brewer, who considers herself an independent but is tending to vote more Republican recently. Brewer says she plans to vote today.
Polls open Tuesday at 7am for the final day of voting for the midterm election.
