Fort Worth rally for Trump draws over 100 people, at least one counter-protester

Over 100 people braved the heat Saturday afternoon to show their support for former president and presumed Republican nominee for president Donald Trump.

The crowd, escorted by Fort Worth police officers, marched through downtown Fort Worth, beginning at the JFK memorial and ending at the Tarrant County courthouse.

The crowd was led by a vintage blue Cadillac limo called the Texas Trump Limo with window decals that included those of President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden Hunter behind bars. Hunter Biden was convicted of three felonies earlier this week.

When the marchers arrived at the Tarrant County Courthouse, multiple speakers addressed the crowd, beginning with Tarrant County GOP Chair Bo French.

“The main thing I want to impress on you is Tarrant County is the bellwether County for the state of Texas,” French said. “So you hear about Texas, so goes Texas, so goes the nation. Well, I’m here to tell you, however Tarrant County goes that’s going to determine how Texas goes.”

In the 2020 presidential election, Biden narrowly won Tarrant County with 49.3% to Trump’s 49.1%. Texas still went to Trump, 52.1% to Biden’s 46.5%.

Abraham George, the newly elected chair of the Texas Republican Party, also spoke at the event.

“We are going to have an amazing November election. I believe Texas is Trump country, but we’ve got to make sure that we also elect Ted Cruz and every single person up and down the ballot,” George said.

Weston Martinez, who ran against George for chair last month, said he was excited about Abraham and what he’s going to do as Republican Party chair.

“So it’s going to be a fun time,” Martinez said.

Before he spoke, Martinez asked an officer to remove the event’s singular counter-protester, who had held a sign that read, “The earth is flat, really.” He also asked for his microphone to be made louder so he could speak over the protester who was using a megaphone across the street.

The protester refused to identify himself to the Star-Telegram and declined to comment

Martinez spent most of his time casting doubt on whether are secure and said, “We have to make this election too big to rig.

“Our elections need to be protected. And in Texas, we’re going to do it. In Texas, we’re going to get the secretary of state and the attorney general to take the lead on securing our elections and going to end county-wide voting,” Martinez said.

In Texas, many counties, including Tarrant County, allow voters to vote at any polling location in the county. Ending it 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 last month to John McQueeney, said she would be doing a “gas and grocery tour” with Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller going to battleground sites.

Bean also called for Republicans to close primaries in the state so that only registered Republicans can vote in them.

Bean asked the crowd.: “Do we really want open primaries where Democrats can cross-vote and wipe out the representatives that you Republicans want to represent? I’m a victim of that. So was David Covey.”

Covey was the grassroots candidate who took on Texas House speaker Dade Phelan and lost his runoff last month.

Bean also spoke against PAC advertising.

“if you notice, on the bottom of every ad, there is a little sign that says ‘paid for by.’ What that means is that is the license to legally lie to you, the citizens and the voters that needs to stop that opens at all levels,” Bean said.

Both Bean’s and Covey’s most prominent financial donors have ties to West Texas oil billionaires Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks.

Bean and Covey were far out fundrasied in their runoff races 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 operation.

One of Phelan’s most vocal critics, state Rep. Nate Schatzline of Fort Worth, called 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 when we can come together and say that we’re all going to be voting for a felon for president this year,” Schatzline said. “This is not a physical battle. This is a spiritual battle we’re in for the United States of America.”

Aj Yvette, a Black woman wearing a shirt that said “All Lives MAGA,” spoke to the crowd and said that she wears the shirt to make a statement to society.

“Society would like for me to believe that I am a Black American Christian, right? But I’m going to tell you something. I am a Christian American who just so happens to be Black,” Yvette said. “ It is not about the color of my skin. It’s not about the color of your skin. It is about the content of your character. It is about how you feel about this country. God, family, country; that is what unifies us.”

Yvette went on to call the Biden administration a “communist regime” and “Obama 2.0,” but she did say she was thankful Trump had been in office before.

“I just want to thank God for Trump coming to be our president, let me tell you why. Because if Hillary Clinton would have gotten anywhere near that Oval Office, we would all be speaking Chinese,” Yvette said.

Before the crowd made the march to the courthouse, they prayed.

Rosalie Escobedo, a Tarrant County GOP area leader, led the prayer and toward the end of it said, “No weapon formed against Trump shall prosper,” referencing Isaiah 54:17.