'It's like game day': Trump supporters spend hours waiting for Columbia rally

For Jacob Free, standing out in the Midlands heat for 11 hours is nothing if it means getting to see President Donald Trump up close.

But, Free said, if the rally being held Monday at Airport High School was just featuring runoff candidate Gov. Henry McMaster, there's no way he would have arrived at the gym gates at 8 a.m.

He isn't even planning to vote for the current South Carolina governor, he said.

Free was one of the about 100 people waiting outside of Airport High at about 1 p.m. Monday in the 94-but-feels-like-100 degree heat for Trump's appearance at the McMaster runoff rally.

Many other people, camped out under tents with coolers of water and boxes of pizza, agreed they wouldn't have spent their entire Monday in the "famously hot" climate if only McMaster was making an appearance.

While a lot of people in attendance support the governor, many said they were excited to hear from the Commander in Chief himself.

Jonathan Collazo drove from Greensboro, North Carolina, to see Trump for the 14th time. He arrived outside of the high school gates at about 8 a.m. Monday.

"If our president has stamina, his supporters have stamina," Collazo joked after he ordered a pizza to the school for lunch.

Collazo said out of all the Trump events he's been to — including the Inauguration — he's never been able to sit up front, which is why he chose to wait in the sun for so long.

Dale Free, from Leesville, said she wasn't planning on coming early until she saw a video of supporter lining up Monday morning. The video garnered a lot of negative reactions on Facebook, she said.

"I wanted to support him and let him know not everyone is being ugly," she said.

Dale Free didn't know anyone who was already waiting at the gates. She hadn't brought shade or food to wait out the day, but she was quickly taken in by a group in line who set up a "tailgate" of sorts.

Tailgating was just what Matt Punch of Fort Mill had in mind when he packed up his things this morning. He showed up at Airport High School with his Gamecocks tent.

"It's like game day to me," Punch said.

Punch said he wasn't sure if he'd spend all day waiting for a McMaster rally, but added that he likes and supports the current governor.

He hopes Trump will talk about the economy and trade with China, Punch said. Topics like "draining the swamp" and the recent report on how the FBI handled the Clinton investigation would also be interesting to hear from the President's mouth, he said.

"We're all out here to make America great again," he said.

This story was originally published June 25, 2018 at 2:16 PM with the headline "'It's like game day': Trump supporters spend hours waiting for Columbia rally."