Near the 30-year anniversary of the Waco siege, during which Branch Davidian cult leader David Koresh and many others were killed in a gun battle and fiery blaze, Trump is in the midst of a rally . . . in Waco.
As Salon's Heather Digby Parton pointed out in an earlier commentary about this rally, "considering that Trump is under investigation for inciting an insurrection that resulted in violent clashes between police and extremists, this is too on the nose to be a coincidence."
Kicking off the festivities on Saturday, MAGA gun enthusiast Ted Nugent — guitar in hand — got the crowd frothed up with his views on the state of the world, etc.
"Glory, glory hallelujah, look! It's real America!" Nugent hooted at those in attendance. "I'm telling ya the whole world sucks and America's catching up, but here in Waco, Texas with the real s**t kickers, this don't suck at all."
Here’s how today’s rally started pic.twitter.com/QbJqpt7i19
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 25, 2023
Further into his statements, apropos of seemingly nothing, Nugent then pivoted to refer to Ukraine President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as a "homosexual weirdo." See that moment below:
Nugent: I want my money back. I didn’t authorize any money to Ukraine to some homosexual weirdo pic.twitter.com/x3d50mReNd
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 25, 2023
Following Nugent's expressions of Americanism, pillow man Mike Lindell took to the podium to bash DeSantis.
"People also ask me about Trojan horse, Ron DeSantis . . . he pretty much done himself in last week with his comments about our great president being arrested," Lindell said, sounding a bit breathless in his excitement. "The best thing he could do would be endorse Donald Trump tomorrow morning."
Mike Lindell in Waco refers to DeSantis as "trojan horse Ron DeSantis," says "the best thing he could do is endorse Donald Trump tomorrow morning." pic.twitter.com/fnR8ICgiij
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 25, 2023
Ramping up to the grand finale, Trump's speech, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga took their turns on stage to say different versions of what they normally say.
Trump rally power couple. pic.twitter.com/ab3pVQxX3Q
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) March 25, 2023
Matt Gaetz is out here looking like a casino pit boss pic.twitter.com/mFn4hZdV0h
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 25, 2023
"President Trump has come to our rescue before, and he's ready now," said Gaetz. "Only Donald Trump could have rescued us from Hillary Clinton." From here, he worked in a bit about The Village People.
some casual homophobia from Matt Gaetz pic.twitter.com/wVam1mlQlv
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 25, 2023
Further coverage to follow in the wake of Trump's speech.