BOZEMAN — The jubilation began well before Donald Trump took the stage in Bozeman on Friday evening. Erica and Nicholas Tinker arrived at the rally from Billings first thing Friday morning. They wanted to be sure to get a spot.
"All I care about is Trump," Erica Tinker said. "I know God has his hand on him." Trump’s first rally in Montana since 2018 saw a surge of fans descend on the Montana State University campus, creating a scene that felt more like a festival or a rock concert than a political event.
Fervent supporters in Trump T-shirts, hats and jackets mingled for hours before lines formed outside of Brick Breeden Fieldhouse. The campaign stop was intended to give first-time GOP candidate Tim Sheehy a bump in his bid for the U.S.
Senate over Democratic incumbent Sen. Jon Tester, but Trump was clearly the main draw. The Tinkers are confident that Trump will win this election, feeling even more optimistic after the attempted assassination on July 13.
Many who spoke with reporters on Friday said they were angered by the assassination attempt — nearly all suggested Trump survived through divine intervention. A scene from outside the Donald Trump rally at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman on Friday. "So many people have realized it happened for reason," Erica Tinker said.
"I believe he continues to point people to the Lord Almighty." Lori Velasquez of Bozeman, 60, who bought a whole new outfit at Goodwill so she could dress in the right colors for the rally, said Sheehy shares her "core values." "I do believe he has God in his heart," Velasquez said.
She added that Sheehy knows what’s at stake because he has a family. Tester "didn’t follow through" on promises, she says, and his support of Bidenomics has hurt Montanans. Like Velazquez, many people at the rally said they believed Trump and Sheehy would fight for the beliefs they feel are essential to Americans — such as abortion restrictions, family values and a way of life they feel is increasingly under threat.
"He (Sheehy) has a family, so he knows what’s at stake," Velasquez said. Among the crowd's veteran Trump supporters were also first-time voters, like Luke Greaves, who moved to Butte four months ago from Washington because he was sick of the blue state politics. The rookie rally-goer said he was hopeful that Trump would draw a contrast between himself and Harris during Friday's remarks.
A scene from outside the Donald Trump rally at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman on Friday. "Kamala (Harris) doesn't have anything she's running on," Greaves said. Adam Lawlellin arrived in Bozeman from nearby Manhattan.
It was his second Trump rally, but the first as someone old enough to vote. Lawlellin said what draws him to Trump and Sheehy most is their "America first" focus. "I am all for helping other people," he said "But help your people first.
" Some supporters came from overseas, including a contingent from Japan, and another group from South Korea. Andrew Russell came from Idaho Falls and was seeing Trump for the second time after a 2020 event in Florida. Russell was a "never-Trumper" until 2019, previously thinking of Trump as something of a con artist.
"I thought he was in it for himself," Russell said. Ultimately, it was Trump’s record on immigration, his foreign policy and Supreme Court picks that won the 28-year-old over. In the time since, he’s gotten engaged in his local Republican politics.
"I was riled up in 2020," Russell said, standing in line under the afternoon sun. "Now I’m even more riled up, and organized." Gauging Sheehy Sheehy's magnanimity was on display in the hours preceding Friday's rally.
As he walked through the parking lot where tailgates of supporters were waiting, people clamored for a selfie or a handshake. Shannon Hall, wearing an American Flag shirt and sparkled earrings, was one of the lucky ones to get a photo with the prospective senator. "I knew who he was as soon as he walked in," Hall said.
"He was very personable. He told me he loved my shirt, and that I looked beautiful." Hall has followed politics in Montana for a while, and she says she's excited about the idea of having a Republican back in the Senate Seat that's up for grabs.
Tester has held the seat for 18 years. "I think (Sheehy) will be about Montana," Hall said. Republican candidate for U.
S. Senate Tim Sheehy talks with supporters outside the Donald Trump rally at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman on Friday. Some people showed up at Friday's rally leaning into Sheehy's campaign, which has been underway for over a year, but wanted to hear more from the candidate.
Phil Kennedy made the drive from Columbus on Friday for this first Trump rally, and said he wants to see Sheehy speak more against the attacks leveled against him by the Tester campaign. "I’ll never vote for Tester," he said. "But I gotta hear more from Tim in the next few weeks.
" Helenans Barb and Bill Carroll said they weren’t big fans of U.S. Rep.
Matt Rosendale, who initially had been on the course for a brutal primary contest against Sheehy. But their enthusiasm for Sheehy’s bid against Tester has only grown in the months since Rosendale dropped out. "Very much so," Barb Carroll said.
John Wellcome of Belgrade was among those in the crowd who have pivoted away from Tester in recent years. This time, he and his wife Jody are hanging inflation and immigration on Tester, who they believe has been in office for too long without finding effective solutions. A scene from outside the Donald Trump rally at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman on Friday.
"He’s just been in his comfort zone," Jody Wellcome said. Alan Redd of Great Falls didn’t care for Sheehy, but said his son, who will still be too young to vote in November, was thrilled for the chance to catch Sheehy for a selfie. Redd, who was taking a break from the crowds with a cigarette, said he’s an independent who’s fed up with the furthest sides of the political aisle.
He thinks Democratic voters got ripped off when Vice President Kamala Harris secured the Democratic nomination without a primary, but, as of Friday, he plans to vote for Tester. "He’s the old standby," Redd said. "He’s Montana.
" A scene from outside the Donald Trump rally at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman on Friday. Multiple people said their primary concern was how the next president and next Montana senator would address the economic difficulty they’re experiencing in their daily life. The border was also top of mind for many.
Jaclyn Wold saw Trump in 2018 in Missoula. She said she was hopeful the former president would focus on policy this time so that he could show undecided voters what he would do for them. "He’s got MAGA," Wold said.
"I would like him to go for those independents." Although Trump got her to Bozeman, Wold was eager to learn about the senatorial candidate, Sheehy. "This isn’t even a swing state and he’s here for us," she said.
By 8 p.m., as the line of people were still filtering into the fieldhouse, dozens began staking out space in the parking lot with a clear view of the jumbo-sized screen set up to beam the speakers inside to those outside.
Danny and Janet West, from Burley, Idaho, had two camping chairs set up in prime real estate on a patch of grass. They intended to get inside, "but we would have had to be here a lot earlier," Janet West said. Rally attendees dance during an intermission at the Donald Trump rally in the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman on August 9, 2024.
A standing-room-only crowd danced to music in between speakers, the sea of red, white and blue bopping to everything from Queen and to Celine Dion. Even as they waited almost an hour and a half later than Trump was scheduled to go on stage, they chanted "fight, fight, fight" and "USA, USA." Every elected official who gave remarks was greeted with raucous applause.
But the loudest crescendo was reserved for Sheehy and Trump, both of whom seemed to revel in the spotlight that the crowd was eager to shine. Outside the arena, a thunderstorm passed overhead with a few cracks of lightning. The thunder was quieter, however, than the eruption from the crowd once Lee Greenwood’s “Proud to be an American” signaled Trump’s arrival to the stage.
Seaborn Larson has worked for the Montana State News Bureau since 2020. His past work includes local crime and courts reporting at the Missoulian and Great Falls Tribune, and daily news reporting at the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell. Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.
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