President Trump says the coronavirus pandemic is “rounding the corner” and a vaccine “will hopefully be out soon.”
AF1 touched down at the Reno-Tahoe airport at 5:54 p.m. local. The flight was uneventful with no POTUS visit to the back, though the TVs did switch from Fox News to the Clemson vs. Wake Forest game midway through.
POTUS spoke to us briefly before we loaded in the vans. No questions.
He said the coronavirus pandemic is “rounding the corner” and a vaccine “will hopefully be out soon.”
“We just landed in Nevada and we’re very booked up. The venue is packed. 1,000 people — many times that.”
“I’ve been here a lot in my life and I know it well. I think we’re gonna win it.”
More quotes:
“We’re very close. I think we’re up. I think we’re up very substantially. Real polls show us doing very well in Florida, very well in North Carolina, Pennsylvania. We’re doing really well in New Hampshire.”
“Joe Biden is sleeping and whatever he’s doing in his basement. He doesn’t come out a lot.”
Ronna McDaniel came back to say hello toward the end of the flight. She was FaceTiming her mom, a “Florida voter” as she put it.
Your pooler also spotted Alyssa Farah, Jason Miller, Dan Scavino, Derek Lyons, and Stephen Miller deplaning.
At 6:14 p.m. motorcade is rolling to the Minden-Tahoe airport approximately 45 mins away.
Motorcade pulled into the Minden-Tahoe at 7:10 p.m. local after a long trip through Reno and Carson City.
Almost the entire route was lined with bystanders standing on top of cars, flying American flags and Trump 2020 signs from the beds of pickup trucks, waving from overpasses and giving thumbs up to the motorcade as we passed by.
Turnout at the rally is in the low thousands. It is a cool 66º here with a beautiful sunset over the mountains behind us. The rally will be carried live at the link below, but your pooler will send along color as needed.
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POTUS wrapped up his remarks at 8:55 p.m. local, after speaking for nearly an hour and 30 minutes. He then spent several minutes waving to the crowd and clapping as the song YMCA played on loud speakers.
It was a raucous crowd here tonight with zero social distancing and very few folks in the audience swearing masks.
At 9:08 p.m. the motorcade is rolling back to the Reno-Tahoe airport. From there, we’re off to Vegas.
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Motorcade arrived back at the Reno-Tahoe airport at 10:06 p.m. local. Lots of folks were still out along the roads to snap photos and wave hello as we passed by.
We are wheels up for Las Vegas at 10:15 p.m.
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AF1 touched down in Las Vegas at 11:24 p.m. local. POTUS
Motorcade left the airport at 11:30 p.m. and drove down the strip to the RON. There were quite a few people still out and about, including a pair of Vegas showgirls who waved at the motorcade as we drove by.
Pool split off after dropping POTUS at the Trump International Hotel just off the main strip.
A travel/photo lid was called at 11:55 p.m. Have a good night everyone.