The media was at the Trump rally, but what's the point? Every group at the fairgrounds exhibit hall had someone with a cell phone or tablet camera and was recording Donald Trump making a speech. They took photos of themselves with Trump at the podium in the background. They held up selfie sticks to get shots above the crowd. After Trump left, they took photos of themselves at the podium.
The media tried to play up one racial incident that lasted barely a minute and was quickly swept away by the police, so they only know what angle will sell ads. (I say racial because I think it was a Black Lives Matter shoutathon that quickly got crushed by angry white people. That's what the photos looked like, anyway.) The real story is told by the crowd. It was all about them being there. Even so, I was fascinated to watch the last remnants of the old school campaign trail press corps at work, although none of the big names from TV news were there...yet. Depends on how far Trump goes.
I took all my photos on my phone, too, and live-tweeted the event.
 |
| Three buttons for $10. T-shirts went to half price after the event ended. |
 |
| Jeff Shapiro of the Times-Dispatch, the last of the bow-tied, owl-eyed political commentators in the South. |
 |
| The media platform is the best place to be although it seems like you're in leg-breaking danger of falling off at any moment. |
 |
| Behind the platform are several TVs. Who pays for all this. |
 |
| They will never look at the candidate throughout the event. They are glued to their laptops or phones. |
 |
| Radio show broadcasting. I don't know if it was live or on tape. They pulled people out of the crowd to be a guest. |
 |
| He's on the left. |
 |
| Either writing notes for a column or sending a text that he'll be home late for dinner. |
 |
| The media was reporting that fire marshals turned people away after 5,000, but there was still room in the back of the hall. You just wouldn't have seen much. It was at this point that I got paranoid about a creepy looking teen boy with a ski hat on and a coat draped over his arms, hiding his hands, who was there alone and just kept drifting from side to side, not really paying attention to the candidate. A shooter? Why are you here? You don't look like you ever vote. There was no weapons check to get in...of course. This is a Republican rally in Virginia. |
 |
| After Trump left, you could stand where he stood. |
 |
| In fact, a line formed to stand where he stood and get a photo. |
 |
| These girls hung back to interview each other. |
