Update No. 3: Trump campaign agrees to 250 person event at RST
Update Oct. 30 1:30 p.m. City officials say they have been notified by the Trump campaign that 250 people have been selected and provided tickets to today’s rally at the Rochester airport. The city is now asking anyone without a ticket to stay home and watch via live stream.
“…per the agreement between the City of Rochester and the Republican National Committee (RNC), no more people are allowed on the event site. There is no more available parking onsite,” the city wrote in a news release.
In the same announcement, Olmsted County Director of Public Health Graham Briggs said while he understand the “interest in the president’s visit and also first amendment rights,” he remains concerned about the potential for Covid transmission at the event.
“The safest choice is to stay home,” said Briggs. “For those who attend, we do ask that they wear a mask, stay at least six feet apart, and get a COVID-19 test 5-7 days afterwards. The same goes for any other individual attending a large gathering of people.”
Update Oct. 30 10:30 a.m. Contrary to its agreement with the city, the Trump rally in Rochester will not be ‘invite only.’ Instead, the Trump campaign is opening the event to the public and allowing the first 250 people on a first-come basis. Already, scores of supporters have gathered outside of the Rochester airport to wait in line for a chance to see the president. Air Force One is scheduled to arrive at the airport around 5 p.m.
Original text: In a bizarre series of events, the Trump campaign is moving Friday’s campaign stop in Minnesota back to the Rochester airport.
The event will still be held at 5 p.m., though it will be by invite only, according to a news release from the City of Rochester. In an about face, the campaign has agreed to abide by the state’s Covid guidelines.
“The priority of the City and RST continues to be the health and safety of our residents and visitors,” said Rochester City Administrator Steve Rymer. “We will continue to work with the various agencies to help ensure a safe arrival, departure and visit from President Trump.”
The Trump team had announced earlier this week that it planned to host a campaign rally in Rochester on Friday as part of a Midwest trek that also includes stops in Oakland County, Mich. and Green Bay, Wis.
But by Thursday morning, the Trump campaign had notified the city that it would be moving to a different venue to accommodate a crowd larger than what the airport would allow. The airport — owned by the city and run by Mayo Clinic — had set the capacity at 250 guests, per state Covid rules.
The site the campaign decided on was 20 minutes west of Rochester at a steel foundry in Dodge Center. The chief operating officer of the company, Glenn Sylvester of McNeilus Steel, Inc, told staff he expected a crowd of 25,000, a figure that would have been one-hundred times the state limit.
Hours later, however, word began to get out that the plans for the Dodge Center rally were off — though there were starkly differing accounts on what led up to the cancellation of the McNeilus event.
Minnesota GOP Chair Jennifer Carnahan accused the governor and state attorney general of interfering with the campaign event and “denying people’s free right to go and hear from their president.”
A spokesperson for Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison disputed that claim, however, saying they asked the business owners who were to host the event to submit a ‘Covid preparedness plan,’ as required by the state. The spokesperson, however, insisted they did not force organizers to cancel the rally. "We don't cancel events. We have no authority to do that."
The Trump campaign has not stated why it moved the event from Dodge Center back to Rochester. Rochester Mayor Kim Norton, who chairs the Airport Commission, suggested it may have been due to scheduling.
Regardless of what led to the cancellation, the string of changes has left supporters and businesses confused and scrambling to adjust. By the time Secret Service delivered word of the move back to Rochester, stands for more than 6,000 people had already been erected at the McNeilus site.
Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.
Cover photo: Trump campaign rally in Rochester in 2018 / William Forsman
