GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano is seen chatting with wife Rebbie and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene at Mohegan Sun Arena Saturday afternoon prior to formal remarks at the ‘Save America’ rally.
Ryan Evans | Times Leader
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Attendees are seen lined up outside Mohegan Sun Arena Saturday afternoon prior to the ‘Save America’ rally.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Dallas, speaks with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., at Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Thousands of attendees are seen waiting for the doors to open at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., answers question during an interview by RSBN outside Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Christian Boris of Old Forge, dressed as George Washington, takes a break to look at his cell phone while waiting for the gates to open at Mohegan Sun Arena prior to Saturday’s ‘Save America’ rally.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE TWP. — It has been an eventful afternoon at Mohegan Sun Arena as Donald Trump’s “Save America” rally gets underway.
The former president’s remarks are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., but all advance speakers seem to have finished by about 5:45 p.m.
Our team at the event has included reporters Kevin Carroll and Ryan Evans, as well as photographers Tony Callaio and Fred Adams.
Below are some of the highlights so far, compiled from their observations and tweets. Follow https://twitter.com/TLKevinCarroll and https://twitter.com/TLnews for updates throughout the night.
A very crowded day
Thousands of attendees gathered in the parking lots around the arena ahead of the event, as the attached photos show.
By midafternoon, the Wilkes-Barre Township Police Department was reporting that Mohegan Sun Arena parking lot was at capacity, directing people to alternate parking at Wyoming Valley Mall, and advising motorists to be alert to increased pedestrian traffic.
Big names in attendance
Tonight’s rally is, in large part, a show of support by Trump for Doug Mastriano, Dr. Mehmet Oz and Jim Bognet in their races for governor, U.S. Senate and the 8th Congressional District respectively.
Many eyes were focused on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who was giving media interviews outside and inside the arena prior to the event.
“The people here are just like the people I represent in Georgia in my district,” Greene told Carroll. “I used to be one of these people, waiting in line … I love getting out and talking with them because I’m truly one of them.”
Greene, 48, called Trump the “greatest president of my lifetime” and said that she expects to hear tonight from him that “come November, it’s freedom versus tyranny.”
The event formally got underway at about 4 p.m. with the National Anthem. Here are some highlights:
• Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity was the first speaker.
“We have a great lineup of people here ready to fight for our commonwealth and our country,” Garrity told the crowd. She said that “this election is the most important of our lifetime” and that “we could change things, we can and we must.”
• Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene took the stage to a loud ovation.
“I love you all … Joe Biden has declared all of you extremists,” she told the audience.
Greene also repeated the baseless claim that Trump won the 2020 election.
“We are going to fire Nancy Pelosi … I never liked her anyway, and her husband clearly has an alcohol problem,” she added.
In reference to the FBI taking documents from Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago: “That never should have happened, it was unconstitutional,” said Greene, who said to the crowd what she told Carroll earlier: “This November, it’s freedom versus tyranny.”
“We’re not the extremists, we’re Americans,” she concluded.
• Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Dallas, said “We have fallen way off course from the strong America we had under President Trump.”
He called the stream of “illegals and illegal drugs” coming across the border an “unmitigated disaster.”
Meuser said “the world needs a strong America, now more than ever,” and called the upcoming election “a chance to put America on the right course.”
• Congressional candidate Jim Bognet, of Hazleton, is running against Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic, in the upcoming election.
“In the 20 months since Joe Biden’s been president, he’s put America in the ditch,” said Bognet, who then took aim at President Joe Biden’s Thursday night speech in Philadelphia, in which the president spoke about the dangers of the MAGA movement to American democracy.
“He demeaned us, he belittled us,” Bognet said, referring to the speech as “Biden B.S.”
Bognet wrapped up by saying that “Biden and Cartwright have lost their minds and sold their souls,” and then directed audience members to donate to his campaign.
• U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz touted his endorsement from the Fraternal Order of Police, and slams Biden: “I think the only thing Joe Biden has built back better, is the Republican party.”
He also said: “You know what happens when you mix politics and medicine? Politics,” in reference to the government’s handling of COVID-19.
• State Sen. Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor, ripped into Democratic nominee and state Attorney General Josh Shapiro as being “not a man of the people but a man of his own party politics.”
Things Mastriano said he will accomplish “on day one” as governor:
– Open up the state for drilling
– No critical race theory in schools
– “No boys on girls teams, or in girls bathrooms”
– No accepting of illegal immigrants
“It’s going to be a new day in PA,” he said.
