LISBON — Donald Trump opened his rally Friday at Open Door Christian Academy by seizing on the news that the FBI is looking into emails that may be related to its previous investigation of Hillary Clinton’s private server.
Calling it the “biggest scandal since Watergate,” the Republican presidential hopeful said he was glad the FBI is taking steps to “right a wrong,” referring to the recently closed criminal probe into Clinton’s use of a private email server when she was secretary of state. The FBI said Friday it is reviewing new emails that reportedly are connected to an investigation into Anthony Weiner, a former congressman and husband of longtime Clinton aide Huma Abedin.
Trump, making his fifth visit to Maine since March, spoke for about a half-hour to a rowdy crowd of about 1,200 people packed inside the small gymnasium in Lisbon. His speech was delayed by about two hours, but the restless crowd quickly sprung to life when he took the stage.
Other than the opening lines about Clinton’s new email flap, it was mostly a stump speech with some Maine-specific details sprinkled in. The crowd loved it.
Trump hit on manufacturing job losses, tying them to the North American Free Trade Agreement that passed when Bill Clinton was president. He talked about the drug crisis and tied that to securing the southern border with Mexico.
Supporters cheered loudest when Trump talked about building a wall along the border and tackling immigration.
“We’re going to have a lot of people come into our country,” he said. “But they’re going to come legally.”
Trump also spent time talking about “repealing and replacing” Obamacare, highlighting the projected rate increases that many policyholders will see as proof that the Affordable Care Act has failed.
When he talked about bringing jobs back and rebuilding the military, he specifically mentioned nearby Bath Iron Works as a major employer that would benefit.
He said he would end the national education standards known as Common Core, which drew loud applause, as did his promise to “save the Second Amendment, which is under siege.”
The crowd alternated between cheers for Trump and a visceral hatred toward Clinton. Anytime she was mentioned, the crowd booed loudly and yelled, “Lock her up!” At one point during his speech as he talked about the rise of ISIS, someone in the audience shouted, “She is ISIS!”
Supporters began lining up before noon, many of them holding umbrellas to shield them from a cold and driving rain. Many were excited that the New York businessman-turned-politician was paying so much attention to Maine this late in the election cycle.
Garrett Mason, the Republican state Senate leader, said he was proud to host Trump in his hometown. His parents actually helped build the Open Door Bible Church and he spent parts of his childhood here. He believes Maine holds power in a presidential race for the first time in a long time.
“If you look at the electoral models, there are plenty of scenarios where Maine could make the difference in this election” he said.
Those who attended Friday’s rally had different reasons for supporting Trump, but many shared his feelings about illegal immigration and about a rigged system.
Michelle Wasielewski, 41, who lives in Lisbon, said she’s undecided, but likes Trump’s stance on immigration.
“There should be more of us asking who they are,” she said. “Hillary seems to just want anybody and everybody to come over, and that’s kind of scary.”
Joe O’Rourke, 52, of Biddeford said he was a lifelong Democratic before this election.
“I’m a veteran, so when you join the military you take a pledge to defend your country from enemies foreign and domestic,” he said. “Truthfully, I see her as a domestic enemy.
O’Rourke said he doesn’t trust the polls that show Trump behind. He thinks he’s going to win.
Others agreed.
“They’re all stacked up against Trump,” said Don Berard, 67, of Bridgton, a Vietnam veteran and lifelong Republican. “They’re just trying to stack the deck and by doing that on TV they’re trying to get Trump supporters to say it’s senseless so they don’t go to the polls.”
As a veteran, he worries that illegal immigrants are being treated better than people like him who served.
“They’re getting a place to live. They’re getting food stamps. They’re getting all kinds of support,” he said.
Maine Democrats used Trump’s visit Friday to remind voters of the candidate’s long history of “disrespecting and demeaning women.” They held an event in Lewiston at noon to call attention to Trump’s comments about and treatment of women.
About 30 protesters from Bates College demonstrated outside the rally. They were met, briefly, by a few counter-protesters holding “America for Trump” signs and wearing orange jumpsuits with the words “Crooked Hillary” scrawled on the back.
Meghan Lynch, 21, a Bates student who organized the protest, said Trump has engaged in sexual misconduct, and he had belittled those offense with his actions and words. “As college students, we think that is not something to be belittled, and we’re here to resist the rape culture that Trump has been perpetuating,” she said.
Another Bates student, Anna Kay Wright, 21, said what Trump stands for is not what she wants the country to represent.
“He represents racial injustice, bigotry and promotion of sexual violence and we cannot have that,” she said. “It’s not what America was founded on and it’s not what America should become.”
Mason, who is among the dozens of Maine lawmakers up for election, said the presidential campaign has been incredibly polarizing.
“I think we’ve lost a lot of the middle,” he said. “I don’t know that we’ll see anything like this again for a long time.”
Trump closed his speech with a plea to “go out and vote.” He asked how many of them had voted already and many had. When he asked if anyone had not voted yet, he told the ones who raised hands, “You’re fired,” his catchphrase from the reality television show, “The Apprentice.”
Despite his attention on Maine, Trump is really only competitive in the 2nd Congressional District, where one electoral vote is at stake.
Maine is one of only two states (Nebraska is the other) that split electoral votes by congressional district. Each of the state’s two districts is worth one electoral vote and the state as a whole is worth two.
Based on public polling to date, Clinton has a commanding lead in the reliably Democratic 1st District and has a clear edge statewide, too. But Trump is polling either even or slightly ahead of Clinton in the 2nd District, made up of the northern and rural reaches of the state where Trump’s message resonates.
With just 11 days left until Election Day, this is likely Trump’s last visit to Maine. He has campaigned here far more than any other candidate in recent memory and more than experts expected. His first campaign trip was to Portland in March, just before the statewide caucuses. He visited Bangor in June and then filled Merrill Auditorium in Portland in August. And about two weeks ago, he returned to Bangor for a boisterous rally at Cross Insurance Center.
Trump has received mixed reviews among Maine’s most prominent Republicans, none of whom attended Friday’s rally.
Gov. Paul LePage, who originally supported New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in the primary and then Jeb Bush, has been a vocal supporter of Trump, but has skipped the last two Maine events.
Rep. Bruce Poliquin, the freshman Republican congressman representing the 2nd District, has stubbornly avoided any questions about whether he supports Trump or whether he will vote for him. Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., had harsh words about Poliquin and other “self-serving” Republicans during a recent visit to Maine, something the congressman’s opponent, Democrat Emily Cain, has seized on.
Sen. Susan Collins, the state’s most prominent Republican at the national level, has disavowed Trump and has refused to support him.
But Trump had plenty of support in Lisbon on Friday.
Jack French, a 79-year-old retiree from Brunswick, called Trump’s speech “wonderful,” and “very enlightening.”
Jonathan Pozzi, a 19-year-old from Wilmington, Massachusetts, came dressed as Trump. He said this was his fifth rally.
“I cry every time I see him. It’s just amazing,” he said. “Someone like Hillary who works for the special interests, works for the corporations, she doesn’t care about me. When I see Donald Trump I know he cares about me.”
Nancy Ganem-Bond, 54, drove up from Shapleigh to hear Trump and wasn’t disappointed.
“He cares about America,” she said. “He’s not politically correct and I’m OK with that. I want someone who speaks to us with truth. He’s not sold out. He’s not corrupt. I’ve liked Trump for a long time. I’ve wanted him to run for a long, long time.”
Correction: This story was updated at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 29 to correct an inaccurate description of the FBI’s actions. It is not clear whether the FBI will reopen its completed investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email server.
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