10,000 gather for Donald Trump rally in Central Florida

4 hospitalized for heat exhaustion at Melbourne event

MELBOURNE, Fla. – Fresh off Monday night's presidential debate, Republican Donald Trump campaigned in Brevard County on Tuesday, arriving like a rock star at Melbourne International Airport.

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Trump's personal passenger jet rolled up to a waiting stairway outside the AeroMod hangar, where inside, an estimated 10,000 people waited to hear him speak.

"Almost every single poll had us winning the debate against crooked Hillary Clinton," he told the cheering crowd. "Big league. Big league."

Trump talked about lowering taxes, tightening immigration laws and fighting terrorism.

"We've seen one Islamic terror attack after another," he said. "We've seen the horrors thrust upon Orlando where the attack happened at the Pulse Nightclub."

Trump claimed the crowd grew to more than 20,000 while he was talking.

Most of the people stood in long lines outside the Melbourne airport for hours in the hot afternoon sun. Temperatures reached 90 degrees across Central Florida on Tuesday.

Inside the hangar, many were overcome with heat and had to be treated by paramedics.

"(He was) very high energy," said Jamie Miller, who traveled with his wife Wendy from Merritt Island to see Trump speak. "The crowd was into it. He seemed into it."

"I was excited because I didn't know how the debate was going to go. It would've been fun either way. It's exciting to hear what he thought about everything," Wendy Miller said.

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Some political observers speculate that Trump chose Brevard County as his first stop after the debate because of its deep Republican roots.

Trump won the March primary in Brevard County, and most of the county's elected officials are Republican.

A handful of protesters showed up outside the airport, but campaign organizers kept them away from the long lines of supporters.

Trump departed Melbourne's airport soon after the rally.

Trump has planned campaign stops in Wisconsin and Iowa on Wednesday.

Watch News 6 and stay with ClickOrlando.com for more on this story.


About the Author

Erik Sandoval joined the News 6 team as a reporter in May 2013 and became an Investigator in 2020. During his time at News 6, Erik has covered several major stories, including the 2016 Presidential campaign. He was also one of the first reporters live on the air at the Pulse Nightclub shooting.

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