Posted on July 28, 2024 by Scott Johnson in 2024 Election, Donald Trump, Media, Minnesota

Trump in St. Cloud

The line to see President Trump speak at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud last night stretched for over a mile. It filled the arena to capacity with thousands more left to watch outside. The Star Tribune’s grudging coverage of the event was led by Rochelle Olson, whose work I came to know in the course of Keith Ellison’s 2006 campaign for the seat now held by Ilhan Omar in Congress.

Digging into our archives I find one of my previous comments on Olson: “Rochelle Olson is a pitiful excuse of a reporter for the Star Tribune. Back in 2006, I called her out as ‘reckless and feckless,’ a judgment I stand by today.” If you run into me around town and have an hour or two to spare, ask me why.

When Trump appeared as the keynote speaker for our impecunious state party in St. Paul this past May, Olson was also on the case. I took a look at her work in “Trump comes to town.” Let’s just say I find Olson to be an unreliable narrator and the Star Tribune has not upped its game in the fairness department over the past 20 years. On the contrary. That much I can tell you.

Alpha News aspires to fill the large vacuum created by the Star Tribune. The view of the crowd waiting for Trump comes from its X feed.

Trump made time to speak with Alpha’s Liz Collin before his speech last night. Liz and Alpha editor Anthony Gockowski report on Trump’s appearance in “Huge crowds of supporters flock to Trump’s St. Cloud rally: ‘We have to save the country.’” Unlike the Star Tribune’s coverage, Alpha’s story is not grudging.

The Star Tribune mentions the overflow crowd. In the subhead of its story the Star Tribune states “hundreds more didn’t get in.” The text of the story reports: “Rally attendees had lined up to get in as early as 2 a.m. When the doors closed before 6 p.m., hundreds — if not thousands — remained outside in the muggy 90-degree heat.” Hundreds or thousands? You be the judge. It’s almost funny.

About 65 miles northwest of Minneapolis off Highway 94, St. Cloud is a city of 70,000 in Minnesota’s Sixth Congressional District. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer represents the district in Congress. It is Trump country. Emmer was among those who warmed up the crowd for Trump and Trump referred to him in his remarks.

Among the Trump supporters in the crowd were Somalis for Trump. John Croman is a political reporter for KARE 11. He noticed. The Star Tribune somehow overlooked the “diverse” crowd Trump attracted last night.

Republican state rep. Walter Hudson attended the rally last night. He knows to take Trump seriously, not literally. Commenting on Croman in the tweet below, he shows how to do it.

The rally reminded me of Trump’s appearance at Minneapolis’s Target Center in October 2019. The crowd was raucous. The event was an extravaganza with many highlights. Trump spoke for around 90 minutes.

I have posted full video of Trump’s remarks below. Most importantly, Trump is now highlighting Kamala Harris’s record. Given the Democratic Party’s mainstream media adjunct, it will fall to the Trump campaign to get the word out. They will get no help from the Star Tribune or its like elsewhere.

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