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'Trump trains' block highways and bridges from New York to Colorado as 2020 election approaches

‘Since he’s been getting out raising heck, we’re doing the same thing for him today,’ one supporter says

Griffin Connolly
Washington
Monday 02 November 2020 01:36 GMT
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Trump Jr tells supporters 'give Kamala Harris a nice Trump Train welcome'

Donald Trump supporters across the US have hit the road in cars and trucks this weekend to rally on US highways in a bid to drum up excitement and publicity for the president’s campaign home stretch before Election Day.

Thousands of people from New York to Texas and all the way to Colorado took part in the “Trump Train” caravans, shutting down roads and bridges.

 In Colorado, motorists were seen driving down State Highway 470 towards the parking lots at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison on Sunday.

The caravan was part of a “MAGA Drag the Interstate” event, Denver’s local CBS News affiliate reported.

The Colorado State Patrol told CBS News they monitored the event.Supporters of the event on Facebook claimed more than 20,000 cars had shown up for the rally.

“I think people quietly support Trump, but since he’s been getting out raising heck, we’re doing the same thing for him today,” Trump supporter TJ Stockton told CBS.

The demonstration in Colorado is one of several similar “Trump Train” caravans that have criss-crossed US highways in recent days.

Hundreds of the president’s supporters congregated on a strip of the Garden State Parkway’s express lanes near Cheesequake, New Jersey, on Sunday,  grinding express lane movement to a literal standstill and causing bumper-to-bumper traffic on the main highway.

“We shut it down, baby! We shut it down!” a man shooting video of the scene can be heard saying in a clip that has gone viral on Twitter.

The FBI has launched an investigation into an incident in Texas on Friday, described by some outlets as an “ambush” and “MAGA truck attack,” which led to at least one collision. 

A large group of Trump supporters  surrounded a campaign bus of Democratic candidate Joe Biden on a highway in the Longhorn State, forcing the former vice president to cancel his planned event there over fears for his safety. The president tweeted a video of the incident, showing pickup trucks and large SUVs with Trump flags on all sides of the Biden campaign bus as it was driving on the I-35 in Hays County.

Writing in all-caps, on Saturday Mr Trump tweeted along with the video: “I LOVE TEXAS!”

Mr Biden’s campaign canceled its scheduled events over fears for the nominee’s safety.

And several hundred of the president’s supporters shut down a major bridge in New York state on Sunday.

Temporarily blocking the Mario Cuomo Bridge that crosses the Hudson River, north of New York City, supporters flew American flags and “Make America Great Again” signs from their vehicles, honked horns, and got out to chant “USA.”

The bridge is named after the late governor of New York and current NY Governor Andrew Cuomo’s father.

Several people on Twitter complained of being late to work on Sunday due to the congestion caused by the parked cars in the express lanes in New Jersey.

Matt K, 21, who works at a liquor store in Woolbridge, New Jersey, told The Independent he was 45 minutes late to work due to bumper-to-bumper traffic between Exits 117 and 129.

His commute usually takes him no more than 15 minutes. On Sunday, it took him nearly an hour.

“I honestly thought it was a really bad accident at first but towards Exit 120 I started seeing a lot of cars with Trump 2020 flags hanging out of their windows,” said Matt, who is also a full-time student at Rutgers University.

Several people took to Twitter to point out that many high-profile conservatives — including the president — for years have denounced political and civil rights demonstrators that have sought to disrupt the flow of traffic by creating picket lines on major streets and highways.

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