County airport authority denied Trump campaign request because of conflicting event
The campaign for Donald Trump may have wanted to return to the site of the former president’s Butler County rally, the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport, but there was an event scheduled at the venue prior to the request.
Mike Walsh, chairman of the Butler County Airport Authority in Penn Township, said the campaign contacted the authority “about a month-and-a-half ago,” with a range of dates organizers were looking to plan a rally for Trump in the county.
Walsh said that although Trump’s last Butler County rally — which took place Oct. 31, 2020, at the airport — was well-organized, the airport already had an event scheduled for July 13, the Penn Township Volunteer Fire Company’s annual Mega Cruise.
“We discussed it at a meeting, and basically we knew Penn Township VFC was doing the car cruise,” Walsh said. “The VFC, they protect us; it’s one of their biggest fundraisers. We just couldn’t do it for (Trump’s campaign).”
Ken Laughlin, president of the Butler Farm Show board of directors, said the farm show granted the campaign’s request, but the space was only the venue for the rally. According to Laughlin, the farm show board of directors had no involvement with the event, aside from acting as the venue.
According to Walsh, the airport didn’t experience any major snags during Trump’s rally in 2020. An estimated 10,000 people attended the event.
“It was very well run, but he was a sitting president at the time. That might have made a difference,” Walsh said.
According to Melanie Brewer, the campaign manager for U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, an estimated 20,000 people attended the rally at the farm show grounds Saturday.
Laughlin, prior to the event, said the record attendance for the annual Butler Farm Show was 15,000 people.
