Trump gets warm welcome at Shanksville meet-and-greet
Conner Goetz/Altoona Mirror
STOYSTOWN — Donald Trump visited rural Pennsylvania on Wednesday afternoon to offer support to the families of Flight 93 victims on the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. It was his second visit to Cambria County in as many weeks.
The former president received a warm welcome as he met with first responders at the nearby Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department, as both the Republican and Democratic presidential campaigns are ramping up spending in the critical battleground state.
After Trump’s plane touched down at the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport at noon, the Trump motorcade proceeded to Stoystown — the site of the Flight 93 National Memorial — for a moment of solemn solidarity with victims’ loved ones.
According to a campaign spokesperson, Trump was invited to attend a private wreath laying-ceremony by the families of Edward-Porter Felt and Louis J. Nacke III, who both died aboard Flight 93.
The Trump motorcade then sped south to a meet-and-greet with supporters at the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department Station 627, passing a veritable slideshow of just-turned fall foliage and smiling faces along the way.
Children holding Trump signs, factory workers donning his signature red MAGA hats and a handful of Mennonite families lined the quiet back roads that led the way to Shanksville.
Trump won Cambria County by nearly 68% in the 2020 general election and it showed.
As the former president exited his armored Chevrolet Suburban at the fire hall, he was met with raucous applause.
Trump, alongside his second-oldest son Eric Trump, met with members of the fire department and paused in front of a metal cross affixed with a plaque dedicated to the victims of Flight 93.
During a nearly one-hour appearance, Trump took photos with firefighters and signed shirts and hats before heading back to the Johnstown airport to fly west.
During his remarks to a crowd of 100 to 125 people at the fire hall, sporadic chants of “U.S.A, U.S.A.,” and “fight, fight, fight,” broke out from the audience.
Trump’s visit came on the heels of his first debate with Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia, where the presidential candidates offered competing views on immigration, foreign policy and the economy.
It was a busy 24 hours for the Republican nominee, flying to New York City after the debate to attend a remembrance ceremony at the 9/11 Memorial in Manhattan, then traveling to Pennsylvania later in the morning.
Conner Goetz is a staff writer for the Altoona Mirror. He can be reached at cgoetz@altoonamirror.com/.