A fundraising project by the Mahoning County Republican Party is drawing complaints at the Canfield Fair in Ohio this week. In an effort to raise money to support GOP campaign activities, the group is selling “bricks” that are glued to a board to create a simulated wall, a symbol of the border wall Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is promising to build.
The faux bricks are being sold to fair goers for $5, $10, and $20 and purchasers can write personal messages on their bricks.
The Trump wall at the Canfield Fair is getting bigger! Stop out and buy a brick! Help make the wall great!
Posted by Mahoning County Republican Party on Saturday, September 3, 2016
Mahoning County Republican Party Chairman Mark Munroe told 21 News, “We don’t have bricks but we have pieces of lumber cut into bricks. People can sign the bricks. It’s a lot of fun and a chance to raise some money for the party.”
But some fair goers thought the wall was offensive.
Boardman resident Cheney Morgan said, “I think this is disgraceful. This is not what I grew up around. I don’t agree with any of these principles. This is breeding hate. Look at all of this. This is absolutely disgusting!”
“You’ve got to be kidding!” Munroe responded. “There is nothing hateful about this wall. This is about national security and border security. It’s about keeping drugs from coming into the country. It’s about preventing persons who are not permitted to be here from coming into this country. What is hateful about that? A nation that does not have borders or laws is not a nation.”
21 News reported that they “couldn’t find any disparaging remarks about illegals or Hillary Clinton on the wall. Many comments just say ‘Go Trump,’ or ‘Marines for Trump.'”
Morgan wasn’t convinced. “Just like people who say bad guys will always get guns. Well, bad guys will always jump around a wall. So it doesn’t actually fix any problems and this is the only platform he has that people actually flock to,” he said.
Next page: What does Donald Trump think about the Great Trump Wall of Ohio?
Rumors are swirling that Trump will make a surprise stop at the Canfield Fair on Monday. From 21 News:
A source tells 21 News that Donald Trump will be back in the Valley on Monday.
No details of the visit have been released, but since Monday’s demolition derby at the Canfield Fair was canceled, there’s speculation Trump will show up at the fair.
Neither the Trump campaign nor Mahoning County Republican party chairman Mark Monroe has confirmed a Trump stop at the fair next week. Mahoning County, traditionally a pro-union Democratic stronghold, could prove to be the ultimate battleground county in the ultimate battleground state of Ohio come November if the March primary is any indication. From the Cincinnati Enquirer:
As many as 6,171 Democrats in Mahoning County voted in the Republican primary, Betras told The Enquirer, a high number for an area that has long thumped its chest about having deep pro-union roots.
Overall, including voters who had sat out in the 2014 primary, Mahoning County gained almost 21,000 new registered Republicans this year, Munroe said. That fueled Trump to a 50.6 percent to 37.4 percent victory there over Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who won the state primary.
According to the most recent Emerson poll, Trump and Clinton are dead even in Ohio at 43 percent. In the Real Clear Politics average Clinton leads Trump in the state 44 to 40.7 percent.
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