Alabama’s massive response to Trump forces campaign to move event to stadium

Republican presidential contender Donald J. Trump (Photo: Gage Skidmore)
Republican presidential contender Donald J. Trump (Photo: Gage Skidmore)

MOBILE, Ala. — The 2,000-capacity Mobile Civic Center Theater proved to be too small to contain Trump Mania, forcing the presidential contender’s campaign to move its Friday “campaign pep rally” to Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

The outdoor venue, which is the home field for the University of South Alabama and hosts the annual Senior Bowl and GoDaddy.com Bowl, has a capacity of 40,000 when formatted for football.

A local source told Yellowhammer the Trump campaign is now preparing for “thousands upon thousands, perhaps tens of thousands” of event attendees after free online tickets moved faster than first anticipated, prompting the change in venue.

Doors will open at 5 p.m. and the event is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Attendees must have a printed ticket to enter the stadium. Tickets are available for free on EventBrite.

According to a poll released last week, Trump is currently lapping the rest of the Republican field in Alabama.

The real estate mogul and reality TV star has the support of 30 percent of likely Republican primary voters. Jeb Bush sits in second with 15 percent, followed by Ben Carson and Marco Rubio at 11 percent a piece. Mike Huckabee and Carly Fiorina are at 8 percent. Ted Cruz is just behind at 7 percent. And Scott Walker, who will also be in the state later this week, currently enjoys support from 3 percent of the primary electorate.

The survey of 3,500 likely Republican primary voters was taken on August 11 and has a margin of error of 2 percent.


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