Last updated on July 29, 2021
Attendees paid up to $100,000 for a photo op with the President. While the president is working to meet his campaign’s July fundraising goals, the day also marked the expiration of enhanced unemployment benefits, causing the president to reevaluate his stance on not extending the program. About 30 anti-racist protesters with megaphones gathered by a police blockade at an intersection near the fundraiser to protest Trump’s arrival in Belleair, FL The president met with 15 Florida sheriffs upon landing, and earlier in the day received an endorsement from Florida Police Benevolent Association, the state’s largest police union. His arrival coincided with the first day that many schools in the state reopened despite spikes in coronavirus cases and death in the state. Although Trump has opposed delaying the start of the school year, he recently tweeted a suggestion to delay the general election, amid claims that Vote By Mail will favor Democrats or increase voter fraud. This controversial statement was taken by some to be a distraction, but others such as Steven Calabresi of the conservative Federalist Society have now called for Trump to be re-impeached. Only congress can make a decision to change election dates, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stated, “Never in the history of the country, through wars, depressions and the Civil War, have we ever not had a federally scheduled election on time.” Trump has also been receiving criticism for sending federal law enforcement to Portland, Oregon where many protesters have been injured and arrested by the response to demonstrations. Groups including the Wall of Vets and Wall of Moms offered defense and support to Portland protesters, and iterations of the groups began to organize in Tampa over the last several weeks. Concerns over the rapid emergence of these groups contributed to some activists avoiding the scene altogether, while others engaged in separate demonstrations throughout the bay area. Black Lives Matter protesters greeted the Trump motorcade around 4:30pm on Friday with a large banner reading “Florida is dying from COVID and Trump is fundraising? Get out of Tampa!” Indigenous activist Stuart Flores said that Trump also wasn’t welcome at his July 4 weekend appearance at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota’s Black Hills.
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