SCHNECKSVILLE, Pa. — The wind howled and brought a chill that cut through clothing.
But after eight years, four indictments and countless other dramas, a little dismal weather could not dissuade thousands of former president Donald Trump's supporters from hearing him speak Saturday at a rally outside Allentown.
“When he was back in office before, we had a great economy, we had everything going for us,” Said Jennifer Flavin, of Lehigh County. “And now since Biden's been in office everything's downhill.”
Trump returned to Pennsylvania on Saturday a few days ahead of a scheduled visit from President Joe Biden to his hometown of Scranton. Before he reached the Schnecksville fire company fairgrounds, the former president was at a fundraiser in suburban Philadelphia.
Trump's visit also comes less than 48 hours before he is due in a Manhattan courthouse for the beginning of jury selection for the first criminal trial of a former American president.
On social media, Trump lashed out Saturday at the judge overseeing the hush-money trial by portraying him, and other judges, as “evil” and afflicted by “Trump derangement syndrome.”
When asked about his array of legal issues, some of the Trump supporters who showed up in Schnecksville expressed a belief the justice system is simply bent on Trump's destruction.
“I think he (Biden) has politicized the justice system,” said Allan Sanders, of Berks County. “She no longer wears a blindfold. It's all after Trump.”
Saturday’s rally in Schnecksville was the first in the area by the former president during this campaign season.