Post-Election Rally Brings Out 200 in Support of President Trump

About 200 people attended a post-election rally in Hollidaysburg on Sunday, Nov. 8, offering continued support for President Donald J. Trump and rejecting the apparent election of former Vice President Joe Biden to the presidency.

Speakers at the event included state Rep. Jim Gregory (R-80th) who was unopposed in the Nov. 3 election.

Speakers and the crowd expressed skepticism of the validity of voting by mail and Rep. Gregory told the crowd that he would be introducing legislation to end mail-in voting in Pennsylvania.

"This week, I will be introducing legislation to repeal mail-in balloting in Pennsylvania," Rep. Gregory told the crowd, to cheers.

Gregory said that the "answer" for expanding the time to vote is extending the time for in-person voting, not mail-in ballots.

Speakers spoke from the back of a black pickup-truck parked at the curb in front of the Blair County Courthouse. The rally began around 1 p.m. and broke up around 2:30 p.m.

The weather was sunny, with temperatures in the low 70s. The crowd spread over the steps and grassy areas in front of the courthouse and frequently cheered for the speakers, who used a voice amplification system.

Cars driving by on Allegheny Street frequently responded to prompts from the crowd to sound their horns in support of Trump.

There were no obvious counter-protestors visible, although some cars driving by declined to honk in support. One young woman who drove by the rally slowly in a gray car, playing music with a heavy beat coming from her car.

"You all are in a cult," she said to members of the crowd standing along the street.

Rep. Gregory said that he and other Republican legislators are looking ahead to the 2022 election, including getting a Republican elected to Pennsylvania's governorship.

The organizer of the event was Patricia "Trish" Haight of Hollidaysburg, who is a Republican committeeperson.

Haight said that she was volunteering at the local Republican Party office after the election and people were "coming in very, very upset," she said.

"They really believed that the election was stolen, whether it was by big tech or the Democratic Party – they don't care. They just believe that it's been stolen," Haight told the Herald.

Haight said that people started asking her what they could do. She suggested contacting local elected officials, Haight said, but people told her that other than Rep. Gregory, there were no plans for any kind of local rally or protest of the election results.

The conversations turned to "going out publicly," Haight said, with her telling people to "pick a day and a time and a place – that's how you do it."

"They asked if I would help, and I said I would and here we are," Haight said.

Haight spoke to the crowd for several minutes but also turned the microphone over to others who wanted to speak.

One of those who jumped at the chance to address the crowd was Wade Breon of Duncansville. He offered a brief but high-energy speech questioning the results of the election and encouraging the crowd.

"I'm disappointed," Breon said to the Herald. "I feel that there was voter fraud here. I'm fine with losing a fair-and-square election but I don't think that's the case here."

He said that his concern is focused on what happened in urban areas such as Philadelphia, which voted strongly for Biden and flipped Pennsylvania for the Democratic Party.

Breon said that he thinks that the election results will ultimately end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The speakers frequently referenced God, faith and quoted Bible verses, including one man who, when prompted by a speaker referencing "the greatest commandment," shouted the entire verse of Matthew 22:37-40, which was the response of Jesus to the question, "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment?"

Also read aloud was the preamble to the U.S. Constitution, which begins, "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."