Donald Trump speaks to Sarasota supporters at Robarts

Posted by Jacob Ogles on Saturday Nov 28, 2015 12:49 pm

Donald Trump at a rally in Sarasota delivered harsh words for President Barack Obama, ISIS, Democrat Hillary Clinton and leaders in China, Japan and Mexico. But some of his harshest words—and the ones getting some of the strongest cheers—for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. “I’m leading in Florida against a sitting senator,” he told a crowd at Robarts Arena. “Rubio doesn’t even go in to vote. He has the worst voting record in the Senate. He is supposed to be representing you.”

The improbably frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president visited Sarasota on Saturday, noting the community was “special” to him since he had twice been named Republican statesman of the year. Shortly after noon, Trump landed outside Robarts in a helicopter bearing his name and gave short remarks to an overflow of supporters who couldn’t fit inside the arena itself. After inviting children outside to take a few rides on his helicopter, he went inside to some 6,000 supporters. 

Of course, he did say Rubio and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush who he said was “acting tough” but needed to actually “be tough,” were nice guys. Toward the end of a speech at Robarts, he said Clinton belonged in jail. “We can’t have four more years of Hillary-worthy scandal,” he said.

Not everyone near the arena was pleased to see Trump. One protester had to be escorted out of the rally, and critics outside help up posters condemning what they labeled as “xenophobic” statements made by the candidate. “There is a preponderance of fear, and to see him rising in the polls and becoming popular demonstrates a growing crisis,” said Joshua Wolff, a junior at Pine View School. 

But inside, cheers erupted as Trump discussed lacking the time to be “politically correct.” He slammed campaign finance scandals surrounding Republican opponent Ben Carson while boasting his own campaign was almost entirely self-funded. And he called for better military leadership capable of being tough and smart. “Terrorism comes naturally when you have weak leadership and weak people,” he said. “We want to be strong again.” 

Perhaps the most controversial foreign policy statement, though, came as he promised to bomb, then seize, oil wells in hostile countries in the Middle East. He criticized a decision by Obama not to bomb oil wells based on environmental concerns, then said America should be able to keep valuable commodities when the nation intervenes. “Maybe someday, we’ll have a really smart president—maybe come January,” he said. “And we’re gonna keep the oil.”

Filed under Politics

Tags:   Barack Obama  Donald Trump  featured  Hillary Clinton  Jeb Bush  Marco Rubio  Robarts Arena  Sarasota

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