Lauderdale, Fla., drew his own scrutiny over a recognizable figure who was seated behind him: former congressman Mark Foley, who resigned in 2006 after reports that he had sent sexually explicit Internet messages to at least one male underage former page.
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Republican presidential nominee and known hatemonger, Donald Trump, took his sweet time criticizing Hillary Clinton at a rally in Sunrise, Florida, on Wednesday. “A lot of you know me!”
“How many of you people know me?”
Wasn’t it awful, Donald Trump asked supporters at a Florida rally Wednesday night, that the father of the killer of 49 people in an Orlando nightclub “was sitting with a big smile on his face right behind Hillary Clinton” at a campaign event? Trump turned to the people behind him.
The only problem was that Foley, who was a Republican congressman from Florida, was one of those smiling faces behind Trump.
Seddique Mateen, the father of the infamous Orlando nightclub mass murderer Omar Mateen, was in the audience at her Florida rally on August 8.
“I like the energy”, Foley told Sun Sentinel later.
Foley is seen just over Trump’s left shoulder in video from the rally in Sunshine, Florida, almost the same position that Seddique Mir Mateen had taken at Clinton’s rally in Kissimmee, Florida, earlier this week.
It’s still unclear if Trump’s campaign knew Foley was at the rally and was right behind the presidential candidate.
He also said he got the seat by arriving early at the event.
“He’s been a friend of mine for 30 years and one of my biggest contributors”, Foley told Roberts via text.
When asked if he the party officials knew he was going to attend, Mateen responded, “It’s a Democratic party, so everyone can join”, adding, “Why should they be surprised?” Not only that, but Foley revealed that Trump was a Foley supporter. Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill said Clinton “disagrees with his views and disavows his support”, according to the Associated Press.
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But covering Trump isn’t exactly a cakewalk for the journalists assigned to his campaign, either, as NBC News reporter Katy Tur recounts in an essay at Marie Claire.
