Trump Marks Campaign Anniversary At Gilley's
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — Donald Trump marked the one-year anniversary of his presidential campaign launch with a rally at Gilley's that offered a heavy dose of nostalgia.
"We do need a bigger venue and we'll get a bigger venue next time," said the presumptive Republican nominee. He spent much of the rally Thursday night recounting his victories during his party's hard-fought primary, offering a state-by-state recap.
"This is the one-year anniversary, and hopefully we're going to make it a worthwhile year," he said.
Trump told he crowd he could have hosted thousands more supporters if they had the room at Gilley's Dallas. And it didn't take long for the room of people to chant about the billionaire's signature campaign issue: building along the Texas/Mexico border.
"Build the wall! Build the wall! Build the wall!" the crowd chanted.
"We'll build it folks. We're going to have the wall," he told them.
Trump received some of his loudest applause when he spoke about gun control.
"I'm going to save your 2nd Amendment folks. I'm going to save your 2nd Amendment and Hillary wants to abolish the 2nd Amendment -- remember that."
Trump did not mention by name one of his former rivals, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — who won the Texas primary handily and has yet to endorse Trump.
Trump told the crowd he expects winning the general election against likely rival Hillary Clinton in November to be more difficult than the primary because of a dishonest press.
"You know, it's funny. I didn't love the press during the primaries, but now it's, like, brutal," said Trump.
The rally attracted a few protestors who managed their way inside the Southside music venue.
Trump paused from his speech to call out one of them, saying, "Go ahead, go home to mommy."
At one point, he joked about one protestor wearing a cowboy hat.
"You know the protestor gave me an idea. I'll put Make America Great Again on a cowboy hat, where are my people?" Trump asked. "Boy, that's going to sell well in Dallas, I can tell you."
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