More than a hundred people braved the heat Saturday afternoon to show their support for former president and presumptive Republican nominee for President Donald Trump.
The crowd, escorted by Fort Worth police officers, marched through downtown Fort Worth, starting at the JFK Monument and ending at the Tarrant County Courthouse.
The crowd was led by a vintage blue Cadillac limousine called the Texas Trump Limo with window decals including emblems of the president Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden Hunter, who was sentenced behind bars earlier this week for three felonies.
As the protesters arrived at the courthouse, several speakers addressed the crowd, starting with Tarrant County GOP Chairman Bo French.
“The main thing I want to impress is that Tarrant County is the most important county for the state of Texas,” French said. “So you hear about Texas, so does Texas, and so does the nation. Well, I’m here to tell you that whichever way Tarrant County goes will determine how Texas goes.”
In the 2020 presidential election, Biden narrowly won 49.3% of Tarrant County, compared to Trump’s 49.1%. Texas still went to Trump with 52.1% and to Biden with 46.5%.
Abraham George, the newly elected chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, also spoke at the event.
“We’re going to have a great election in November. I believe Texas is Trump country, but we need to make sure we also elect Ted Cruz and everyone else on the ballot, George said.
Weston Martinez, who ran against George for chairman last month, also addressed the crowd.
“I’m excited about Abraham and what he will do as chairman of the Republican Party. So it will be a fun time,” Martinez said.
Before speaking, Martinez asked an officer to remove the unusual counter-protester from the event, who was holding a sign that read, “The Earth is actually flat.” and also asked to turn up his microphone so he could speak over the counter-protester who was using a megaphone across the street.
The counter-protester declined to identify himself to the Star-Telegram and declined to comment
Martinez spent most of his time questioning whether or not the election is secure, saying “we have to make this election too big to be rigged.”
“Our elections must be protected. And in Texas we’re going to do it. In Texas, we are going to ensure that the Secretary of State and Attorney General take the lead in securing our elections and ending countywide voting,” Martinez said.
In Texas, many counties, including Tarrant County, allow voters to vote at any polling place in the county. The shift to end this would require voters to go to a specific precinct near their registered voting address.
Cheryl Bean, who narrowly lost her primary runoff for House District 97 to John McQueeney last month, said she would go on a “gas and grocery tour” with Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who would be heading to the battleground states.
Bean also called on Republicans to close the state’s primaries so that only registered Republicans can vote in them.
Bean asked the crowd: Do we really want open primaries where Democrats can vote among themselves and sweep away the representatives that want to represent you Republicans? I am a victim of that. That was also true for David Covey.”
Covey was the grassroots candidate who ran against Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan and lost his runoff last month.
Bean also spoke out against the political PAC’s advertising.
“If you notice, there’s a little sign at the bottom of every ad that says ‘paid for by.’ What that means is that the license to legally lie to you, the citizens and the voters must be stopped and opened up at all levels,” Bean said.
The most prominent financial donors to both Bean’s and Covey have ties to West Texas oil billionaires Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks.
Bean and Covey were left well out of fundraising in their second race by Phelan and McQueeny, who received large donations from Texas Defense PAC, which has ties to Miriam Adelson, owner of the Las Vegas Sands casino company.
One of Phelan’s most vocal critics, state Rep. Nate Schatzline of Fort Worth, spoke at the event, calling the House speaker a “corrupt liberal.”
Schatzline, a former pastor of Mercy Culture Church, which has two campuses in Fort Worth, made light of Trump’s felony convictions.
“It’s a special day where we can come together and say we’re all going to vote for a felon for president this year,” Schatzline said. “This is not a physical fight. This is a spiritual battle we are in for the United States of America.”
Aj Yvette, a black woman wearing a shirt that reads “All Lives MAGA,” addressed the crowd and said she wears the shirt to make a statement to society.
“Society would like me to believe I’m a black American Christian, right? But I’m going to tell you something. I am a Christian American who happens to be black,” Yvette said. “It’s not about the color of my skin. It’s not about the color of your skin. It’s about the content of your character. What matters is how you feel about this country. God, family, country; that is what unites us.”
Yvette went on to call the Biden administration a “communist regime” and “Obama 2.0,” but she did say she was grateful Trump had been in power before.
“I just want to thank God that Trump became our president, let me tell you why. Because if Hillary Clinton would have come anywhere near that Oval Office, we would all be speaking Chinese,” Yvette said.
Before the crowd marched to the courthouse, they prayed.
Rosalie Escobedo, a Tarrant County Republican Party leader, led the prayer and said near its end, “No weapon formed against Trump will prosper,” referring to the famous Bible verse Isaiah 54:17.
