As the election race reaches its final days, both parties are pushing to reach out to voters a few more times before the big day. President Donald Trump’s supporters ended up getting the short end of the stick when the rally in an airfield in Omaha, Nebraska ended Tuesday night. Many experienced heavy delays getting home and others were left in the cold.
What We Know:
- The Omaha Police Department (OPD) said in a statement that roughly 7 people were taken to a local hospital, and about 30 other people called due to medical reasons. On the other hand, the Omaha Airport Authority reports slightly different figures of those that went to hospitals and suggested that the actual number of people taken to hospitals could not be confirmed. The temperature in the area was in the mid-30s.
Thousands of people left out in the cold and stranded in #Omaha, #Nebraska after a #Trump rally. I’m told the shuttles aren’t operating & there aren’t enough busses. Police didn’t seem to know what to do. Some walked. I saw at least one woman getting medical attention. pic.twitter.com/oIkmixaZt0
— Jeff Paul (@Jeff_Paul) October 28, 2020
- Joe Biden didn’t waste any time on Wednesday and took the opportunity to call out his rival’s approach. “Just look what happened last night in Omaha, after the Trump rally ended, hundreds of people, including older Americans and children were stranded in sub-zero freezing temperatures for hours,” Biden stated during a speech in Wilmington, Delaware. He made it clear how even the Trump campaign put people into a hospital, subtly attacking the president’s way of handling dilemmas.
- The OPD said around 25,000 of those who attended the rally, came over via 40 shuttle buses which ran from 10:00 a.m. to the rally’s start time of 8:00 p.m. Dispatches from the department were recorded by Broadcastify, a radio communications platform. The 30 calls that were prompted were about the elderly, an electric wheelchair user, and families with small children who waited in the cold for hours.
“There’s an issue with a number of people unable to find their cars and wandering in the cold … see if we can’t get everybody reunited with a car,” said one of the recordings.
- Other recordings reveal how 20 buses were delayed and congestion formed as rally attendees had to be shuttled back to already clustered parking lots and exits. So the most definite details obtained from the recording mention that patients were taken to Creighton University Medical Center. So far no further comments have been made from the hospital, camping, or police department.
- In an effort to relieve the massive delays, many people decided to walk several miles to the parking areas. Unfortunately, that ended up causing even more delays since the pedestrian traffic created another obstacle for buses trying to reach those at the rally location waiting to be picked up, said the police department in the statement.
The Trump Campaign finally made a statement on Wednesday regarding the messy end to Tuesday’s rally. It read “President Trump loves his supporters and was thrilled to visit Omaha last night. Despite the cold, tens of thousands of people showed up for his rally.” After mentioning their subpar 40 shuttle bus plan for attendees, they also reassured followers that “tents, heaters, generators, hot cocoa, and hand warmers” were available for all guests.
