Crowd settles in for Trump rally; Hannity not "special guest" as stated by Trump campaign

The mood was festive at noon Monday in front of the Show Me Center, with several hundred people gathered to wait for entry to the Make America Great Again rally in Cape Girardeau.

The president is expected to speak at 9 p.m. and doors to the Show Me Center will open at 6.

A sea of red hats, star-spangled shirts and ponchos filled part of the Show Me Center's parking lot, but no crowd control was yet in place as rain began to fall.

Several people had set up lawn chairs and huddled under blankets, and one group set up a corn hole game in a small parking area across Sprigg Street from the Show Me Center parking lot.

A bounce castle was parked in front of one of three rally merchandise booths.

City spokeswoman Nicolette Brennan said merchandise booths set up in Cape Girardeau were required to get a peddler's license, a temporary permit allowing vendors to sell merchandise in town. Such permits are typically issued to parade vendors and the like, according to the city's website.

"They should be collecting all sales taxes," Brennan added of the vendors.

Another tent at the Show Me Center sported a "Just The Tweets.com" banner.

Trisha Hope of Houston, Texas, compiles all of President Donald Trump's tweets into a bound book, one for each year of his presidency, she said.

Volume 1 is out, and she expects Volume 2 to print this spring.

"Twitter doesn't archive his tweets past May at this point," Hope said, so her aim is to provide a permanent record.

And the book is really taking off, she said, with international sales and national media stories.

She's attended rallies all over the country, she said, and was in Chattanooga, Tennessee, last night.

"We were going to go home after that," she said, but the Cape Girardeau event was only five hours' drive away, and this is an important one -- it closes out the election season.

Hope added that people say there's a lot of division in the country, but at an event like this rally, there's a lot of unity too.

Randal Thom, 58, of Lakefield, Minnesota, said this rally is the 46th he's attended. Thom was gathering signatures on a poster he'd had printed, with the slogan "Red Tsunami 2018."

"I truly believe there will be a red tsunami," Thom said of Tuesday's election.

Thom said he breeds snow dogs in Minnesota, and his "number one stud" is named Donald J. Trump, an Alaska malamute who makes "beautiful puppies."

Shuttle service

Just after 11 a.m., two buses from Robinson Transport were idling at the shuttle pickup point in the south parking lot at West Park Mall in Cape Girardeau.

Shuttle service from the mall was set to run from 10 a.m. to midnight.

Kelly Elizalde, a Robinson employee, waited with her grandson, Andrew Askew, 2.

Elizalde said her shift began at 10 a.m. and would end at 4 p.m., and each bus would seat 50 people.

Elizalde's husband was the son of Mexican immigrants, she said, and she didn't like the president's characterization of Mexican immigrants, or his views on women.

"I'll make money off his visit, but I won't go see him," she said.

Fox News: Hannity not guest

Several national outlets posted stories Monday that Fox News clarified that Sean Hannity was not appearing as Trump's "guest" for the rally.

Trump's campaign continued Monday to list the Fox host as a "special guest."

Hannity tweeted Monday that he will not be onstage campaigning with Trump, according to The Associated Press. The Trump campaign announced that Hannity, radio commentator Rush Limbaugh and country singer Lee Greenwood would be special guests.

Hannity was rebuked by Fox in 2010 when the tea party advertised he would be appearing at one of its rallies, The Associated Press reported. It was reported Hannity will interview the president during his visit to Cape Girardeau. It was also reported that Hannity would be recording his radio show in Cape Girardeau.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Editor Bob Miller contributed to this report.