A crowd outside the stage at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage waits to hear speakers during a Trump rally in support of Republican candidates for office on Saturday, July 9, 2022. (Bill Roth/ADN)
Crowds gathered in and around the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage on Saturday for a chance to see former President Donald Trump speak at a rally supporting Republican candidates for office.
Trump is in Alaska to campaign and raise money for U.S. House candidate Sarah Palin and U.S. Senate candidate Kelly Chibaka, who is running against Republican incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Trump also gave a conditional endorsement to Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who is running for re-election, as long as Dunleavy does not endorse Murkowski.
Dunleavy, who accepted Trump’s conditional endorsement last year, was nowhere to be seen Saturday and was not mentioned by other speakers at the rally. A spokesman for Dunleavy’s campaign said earlier this week that Dunleavy plans to meet with Trump on Saturday but does not plan to fundraise before the rally.
Rally-goers started lining up in the early hours of Saturday. Music, food trucks and vendors selling Trump merchandise gave the event the feel of a festival rather than a political rally, and several attendees said they came to see Trump, not support the Alaska candidates.
By 3 p.m., an hour before Trump took the stage, nearly every seat in the arena was filled. The capacity of the arena is about 5,000.
The rally drew prominent Republican state lawmakers — including House Minority Leader Kathy Tilton of Wasilla and Reps. Kevin McCabe of Big Lake and Sarah Vance of Homer — along with local officials such as Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson and the deputy public library director of Anchorage Judy Norton Elledge .
Doors opened at 11 a.m., but a line of people waiting to enter the arena still wound around the building when Anchorage Chief Equity Officer Uluao “Junior” Aumae led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance shortly before 2 p.m.
People continued to pour into the building as Palin and Chibaka took the stage. Both candidates wasted no time blasting their opponents.
“I know the good old boys club and too many RINOs are part of it,” Palin said, referring to the so-called Republicans by name only. She then called out her opponent in the U.S. House race, Nick Begich, another conservative Republican who said he voted for former Anchorage Democratic mayoral candidate Ethan Berkowitz in 2015. Begich said he voted for Trump in both 2016 and 2020.
Democrat Mary Peltola is also on the special election ballot to fill the House seat, along with several others running in the August general election primary.
Palin drew a standing ovation from the crowd, which chanted “hit, baby, run!” — a phrase Palin repeated on Saturday dating back to 2008, when Palin was a vice presidential candidate. But there is no consensus among the Alaska Republican Party on Palin. Conservative Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson and House Rep. McCabe declined to say whether they would vote for Palin, although they said they would support Chibaka.
Palin embraced her identity as an outsider to the party, drawing a connection between her experience and that of Trump and his supporters.
“We were mocked, ridiculed and falsely accused and told to sit down and shut up,” she said. “The things you have heard about me are lies. I am much worse than what you have heard.
Chibaka, the former Dunleavy-appointed commissioner of the Alaska Department of Administration, devoted his 10 minutes on stage to comparing himself to incumbent Murkowski. Trump vowed to campaign against Murkowski after she was one of seven Republicans in the US Senate who voted to impeach him following the events of January 6, 2021.
“This Senate seat is often the deciding vote that can affect the rest of the nation,” Chibaka said. Murkowski is known for her willingness to buck the party line on key issues, including access to abortion, judicial nominations and gun control.
“It’s time for a change,” Chibaka said over and over.
Murkowski was scheduled to meet with voters in Kenai and Soldotna on Saturday. Begich campaign spokesman Truman Reed said Begich held several campaign events in Anchorage on Saturday, including a visit to the South Anchorage Farmers Market.
Both Palin and Chibaka repeated debunked claims about the results of the 2020 presidential election and backed Trump despite mounting evidence that Trump knew his supporters were armed during the brutal Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and wanted to joined them in the Capitol.
In interviews before the rally, many of those in attendance dismissed evidence that has emerged in recent weeks that suggests Trump knew his supporters were armed before the Capitol attack. Several also repeated false claims questioning the validity of the 2020 election.
Before Palin and Chewbacca took the stage, Mike Lindell, a pillow company executive and prominent Trump supporter, addressed the crowd. He falsely claimed that 20,000 votes were “stolen” by Trump in Alaska in the 2020 election. Trump won Alaska by 36,000 votes but lost the national general election.
Trump was expected to speak after 4 p.m. Inside the arena, “Trump 2024” shirts and recognizable red “Make America Great Again” hats were everywhere. A playlist of hits kept the atmosphere upbeat, even as the crowd waited hours for Trump to take the stage.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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