Former President Donald Trump will stage a “Save America” rally at Casper’s Ford Center in late May, he has announced.
A listing on Trump’s website said he would appear at the Ford Center at 4 p.m. Saturday, May 28.
Wyoming Republican Party officials have spoken about a Trump appearance in Wyoming since December, although the details have been slow to emerge. The time and exact venue were announced Monday by the former president.
Trump has endorsed the campaign of Republican Harriet Hageman in her GOP primary race against U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney for Wyoming’s lone U.S. House seat.
“It will be a tremendous honor and incredibly exciting to have President Trump visit with us and it will no doubt be the largest political event in Wyoming history,” Hageman said in a prepared statement. “I am grateful for President Trump’s support in my campaign and I look forward to seeing him in Casper.”
Dr. Joe McGinley, a former Natrona County GOP chair said Trump’s visit will be good for the Casper economy but he has no intention of attending the rally.
“I support Rep. Cheney,” McGinley told Cowboy State Daily. “She’s done a good job so I will not be attending a rally to promote Harriet Hageman.”
Rep. Landon Brown, R-Cheyenne, one of the few elected officials in Wyoming to outwardly support Cheney said Trump’s decision to come to Wyoming speaks of “desperation.”
“It’s clear that Harriet is in trouble with her campaign if they’re calling in former President Trump,” Brown said. “It’s even more telling that they know Liz will win because Trump didn’t win this state in 2016 – he lost to Ted Cruz and never visited here before.”
“Trump has nothing in common with Wyoming citizens- he’s a Manhattan penthouse billionaire whose made his money off of the working class while Wyoming’s working class has built their own lives from the ground up,” he said.
Trump has often criticized Cheney for her vote to impeach him following the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
She also holds a seat on the U.S. House committee investigating the circumstances surrounding the riot.
Before voting for Trump’s impeachment, Cheney agreed with the former president’s policies in about 90% of her votes.
Tim Murtaugh, a spokesman for Hageman’s campaign, said the announcement of the rally’s date, time and venue was left to the former president.
“We didn’t announce it, President Trump did in the release from today,” Murtaugh said. “Also, no date is final until it’s announced by President Trump.”
According to an event listing on Trump’s website, people wishing to get tickets for the event may register by cell phone. Only two tickets will be given per cell phone.
Doors for the event are scheduled to open at 11 a.m. and the rally is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.
The Ford Center typically holds 8,000 people but seats up to 9,700 for concerts and meetings. It encompasses 28,000 square feet and was built in 1982. Some of the more notable events to be held there were the annual College Nationals Rodeo, UFC 6 in 1995, and Black Sabbath in 1982.
