DELAWARE COUNTY, OHIO—A buzz is building among the silent majority throughout Ohio’s Delaware County near Columbus for the return of Donald Trump.
At 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 23,
Trump will be making a stop on his Save America Tour at the Delaware County Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 23.
The event, which will be outside in the rural area filled with farms and dotted with tractor and farm implement businesses, will mark the second time the former President has spoken in Ohio, a key battleground state, in less than a year. It also will be the second time Trump has been in Delaware County since 2015. Trump last was in Ohio at the Lorain County Fairgrounds in Wellington on June 24, 2021, where an overflow crowd appeared and thousands couldn’t get in.
As the May 3 Primary Election draws closer, numerous Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate and state races are expected to attend the rally, perhaps posturing for an endorsement from Trump at the rally in hopes of regaining Republican control of the House and Senate.
Delaware, the county seat, is the home of the Little Brown Jug, the world-famous harness horse racing event which is the Triple Crown of harness racing, and Ohio Wesleyan College.
“This is exciting, I think,” said Brian, sitting on the patio outside Moose Lodge 1167 on Sandusky Street, sipping a beer with his wife, Donna, before the sun went down. “It’s a big deal here. People are already putting out Trump signs. I think they’re expecting more people to come this time to see him than last time.”
Lisa, a friend of Brian and Donna, said, “I’m excited. This puts Delaware County on the map.”
Lisa’s husband, Doug, said he would like to see Trump run and have Florida governor Ron DeSantis as his vice president.
“Then, it would be good if DeSantis took over as president,” Doug said.
Trump won Delaware County in both the 2016 and 2020 Presidential elections. He defeated Joe Biden, 66,356 votes to 57,735 in 2020, and Hilary Clinton, 57,568 votes to 40,872 in 201, according to the Delaware County Board of Elections.
Delaware County, population 214,124, is one of the higher-income counties in the state with a median household income of $111,411.
But many locals interviewed by The Epoch Times said they are worse off this year than they were in 2020. They feel the pain at the gas pump, have cut back on everything including food, and are concerned about the U.S.’s standing in the world during Russia’s ongoing invasion in Ukraine.
Inside the fairgrounds, tents have been erected, workers are setting up lights and stages, and a young lady who said she’s a Trump worker was wearing a tan Smokey The Bear cap that said “Only You Can Prevent Communism.” She was unsure of how many people the fairgrounds could hold for the event.
Just down the street at Star Fleet Cars, which neighbors the fairgrounds, salesman Brad Sizemore told The Epoch Times he'll be at the rally.
“I’ve already got my ticket,” said Sizemore, a Trump supporter. “It’s exciting. We’re going to be putting Trump banners and signs on the trucks for motorists to see.
“It’s been really slow here,” Sizemore added. “I hope Donald Trump can bring some business and he can fix the country while he’s at it.”
Sizemore, who works on commission as a salesman, went on to say that when gas prices and diesel fuel went up, sales slowed about six months ago. Like many living in the Heartland, Sizemore said he’s cut back on groceries and eating out, among other things.
“The high price of diesel fuel has killed the market,” Sizemore said. “I was selling three or four trucks a day, now it’s one a day or maybe five a week. We’re hoping things will pick up soon.”
Brian, who was sitting outside the Moose Lodge, didn’t want to give his last name because he said part of Delaware County is changing from conservative to liberal, and that his video surveillance camera at his home had caught some girls spray painting Trump campaign signs in his neighbor’s yard during the 2020 election.
“The people who put up those No Hate signs in their yards are the ones who hate the most and argue the loudest,” said Brian, a retired IT person. “They have no respect for your political opinion, but they expect you to respect theirs.”
Brian’s wife, Donna, who worked in food service, said they are fortunate because they haven’t had to cut back because of the state of affairs in the U.S., yet. Brian said the value of his 401K account has gone down since Biden has been in office.
“We’re cognizant of what’s going on around us,” Donna said. “Our family members have been affected by this. Every time a Democrat gets into office, the price of everything goes up.”
If Trump were to run again, the couple said they would vote for him.
“Things were better when he was in office,” Brian said. “He gave our allies a lot of respect, and had a good rapport with them. Now, the United States is the laughing stock.”
But not everyone is so excited about the rally or supportive of Trump.
Laura McFarland and her her husband, Kelly, who work for a security company, told the Epoch Times they were leaving town on Saturday.
They were sitting outside on the front patio of the Son of Thurman, a sports bar and restaurant on Sandusky Street, sharing a bottle of wine.
“We’re very left wing, but we’re polite to each other and we tolerate one another here,” Laura McFarland said. “Donald Trump just brings the chaos with him and causes a lot of division.
“We’re not gigantic fans of Biden, either,” McFarland added. “He’s too middle-of-the-road for us. Let’s just burn it all down and start over.”
Walking down the sidewalk on Sandusky Street was Jacki Oen, who was wearing a Donald Trump scarf.
Oen, said she was excited about Trump coming to Delaware, but she'll be out of town officiating a basketball game, one of the two jobs she works to make ends meet. She also works in new car inventory for an auto dealership.
Oen said she’s been a widow for 11 years, and she and her late husband had owned a large farm in Shelby County. She’s concerned about food shortages and food prices going up because farmers are having a hard time acquiring fertilizer.
“I like Trump because he’s not a politician,” Oen said. “He’s a businessman, ”Because of everything going on, I’ve had to cut back on everything. My 401K account was doing good until about five months ago.
“I made less than $40,000 last year from my two jobs, and I still owed $920 in taxes,” Oen said. “How can that be? Things aren’t good. They’ve got to get better.”
