Thirteen-degree weather doesn’t deter the true fan. A line of shivering people stretched down the street from the SNHU arena Saturday night, waiting to see the show. Strangers chanted together in unison; people were laughing and admiring similar merchandise, vendors were peddling new varieties of branded hats, scarves, bumper stickers, yard flags, you name it. Young and old stood together, some parents making the affair a family outing.
You might be picturing an NFL game. Or your favorite rock band’s reunion tour. But this was Southern New Hampshire University Arena in Manchester, N.H., less than three days before the GOP presidential primary. This was a Trump rally.
Given the hours people waited outdoors to enter — doors opened at 3:00 p.m., the former president was slated to go on at 7:00 p.m. — I spent some time pacing the line. One woman caught my eye. She wore a pink-and-rhinestone “TRUMP GIRL,” hat, and I asked to interview her. After consulting her friend, she decided it was best not to let someone from The Boston Globe interview her: “I just don’t want you to change my words.”
It’s a reaction I got a couple times, but for the most part, people were friendly and open. On our walk up to the arena from the parking lot, Danny, 32, who didn’t give his last name, told me in a mix of Spanish and English how much he liked Trump’s leadership on the economy. The Dominican Uber driver from Lawrence, Mass., added that “you need to protect [the border], you cannot have it open, you cannot let everybody in.” The economy and immigration are top priorities for Latino voters, many of whom are increasingly enticed by the MAGA movement.
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Inside, the freezing cold gave way to electric anticipation. After passing a thorough Secret Service screening — the source of the hour-and-a-half line — you could hear rousing rounds of “Trump! Trump! Trump!” and occasional outbursts of Freedom!” and “Let’s go Brandon!”
Local MAGA politicians took to the stage to warm up the crowd. It didn’t take much — the place was already buzzing. Speakers decried “Hillary Haley” — a reference to Trump’s main rival for the nomination, Nikki Haley — and called on Trump to save America. A playlist blared everything from country music to opera to the Village People’s “YMCA” as attendees settled in with popcorn. Representative Matt Gaetz, a Republican of Florida, made his way up and down the stadium aisles, taking selfies and waving to adoring fans.
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It was the MAGA Super Bowl. Or, perhaps, an impassioned Sunday service at the local mega church — the kind where the pastor flies onto the altar. One of the various warm-up acts was a disquieting “God made Trump” video, riffing on Paul Harvey’s “So God Made a Farmer.” A faceless narrator told the crowd: “On June 14th, 1946, God looked down on his planned paradise and said: ‘I need a caretaker.’ So God gave us Trump,” as footage of the triumphant Trump flickered between shots of the White House and his enemies. Other things God gave us Trump for: “Somebody with arms strong enough to wrestle the Deep State and yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild” and someone who “call out the Fake News for their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s.”
I thought some God-fearing Republicans might see this as idolatry. I asked cousins Charlene Craig, from Derry, and Shana Placenti, from Salem. Craig, an Independent, is a breeder of Papillon dogs and an ordained minister, while Placenti, a Republican, is a unionized ironworker who says she’s taking time off due to toxic mold exposure. Trump gives Placenti hope, she said: “I like him, I love him actually.” She enumerated his favorite policy points, like oil drilling, reducing inflation, building the border wall, and deporting illegal immigrants. But most of all, she emphasized that Trump is “Christian at heart, he believes in God, he believes in Jesus, and that’s what he’s bringing back to the White House.” Craig, the minister, agreed.
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When Trump finally came out at around 7:20 p..m, his signature anthem, “I’m Proud to Be an American,” started playing and the crowd went wild. The former president paced the American-flag-draped stage, and at points took small dance breaks — if you can call it that — teetering awkwardly side to side. But the crowd ate it up anyway, dancing and smiling along.
He devoted much of his nearly two-hour speech to attacking Haley. With Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida dropping out of the race on Sunday and endorsing Trump, Haley has emerged as Trump’s last real opponent. As soon as he mentioned her, the boos began. “She’s made an unholy alliance with the RINOs, the Never Trumpers, Americans for No Prosperity, globalists, the radical left communists,” he said. “Our borders remain wide open ... If you want a losing candidate who puts America last, vote for either one of them, Nikki Haley or Ron DeSanctus.” The lieutenant governor of South Carolina, Pamela Evette, took to the stage, along with a handful of other South Carolina officials who have endorsed Trump. “If we want our border closed, we need to do what?” she gestured to the crowd: “BRING HIM BACK.”
Earlier Craig had told me that the best thing Trump did was build the wall and she hates pretty much “everything [Haley] stands for.” I pointed out that Haley and Trump are similar on immigration. Haley advocates for a “catch and deport” policy and doesn’t oppose the border wall, but says “we have to do more than that.” Craig responded, “I took it that she wanted to let them in.”
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Craig highlights a driving factor among many MAGA voters: a deep distrust of the political establishment and anyone who looks — or sounds — like a polished politician. Most Trump voters share occasional grievances about his outbursts; almost everyone I spoke with echoed Craig’s sentiment that Trump “makes mistakes.” But that’s what makes him so appealing to them — “he’s a human being,” Placenti said. “We don’t want things sugarcoated in this country. … I’m a person that likes honesty.”
It’s an anti-establishment fear that Trump tried to gin up throughout his rally. “Nikki Haley is backed by the deep state,” he said — in different iterations, multiple times. A sign of insecurity as the primary looms? The latest Suffolk University/Boston Globe/NBC-10 poll has Haley’s support at a steady 36 percent among GOP voters, nearly 20 points behind Trump. But Haley leads among Independents and Trump can’t be too careful in New Hampshire, where Independents can vote in the Republican primary on Tuesday.
Haley has run a solid, stable campaign. But this rally is a different beast — it’s electric and people are having fun. And it is very possible these rallies are winning over undecided voters. I met a few who came out to see what this loud, angry man is all about. Maybe the hundreds of American flags and patriotic songs will stick in their heads. Maybe those who are too bogged down by today’s bills and tomorrow’s work to consider finer policy points will shrug and think, “Well, there must be something he’s doing right” after seeing the swooning fans.
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The recent tracking poll shows that while about 40 percent of Haley supporters want to stop Trump, a whopping 93 percent of Trump voters are just that — Trump supporters. They do not support him because they dislike the other options. They simply love Trump.
Why is he so popular? His supporters always say it’s his energy — look at the show he’s putting on, look how hard he fights for this country. It’s an attribute I don’t always associate with Trump. Clips on TV show him angry and vindictive. Courtroom shots have him mean-mugging. But tonight, Trump is their rock star.
Carine Hajjar is a Globe Opinion writer. She can be reached at carine.hajjar@globe.com.
