President Trump reportedly will make his first visit to The Villages on Aug. 6.
Reports Monday night indicated that the president will hold an event in Florida’s Friendliest Hometown focused on Medicare. It will be an invitation-only gathering. The venue and time of the visit also haven’t been announced.
Trump would become the second sitting president to visit The Villages. President George W. Bush became the first when he made a campaign stop at Lake Sumter Landing in October 2004 – just 15 days before the November presidential election.
Trump, who enjoys huge support in The Villages, was in Orlando on June 18 to kick off his 2020 re-election campaign. His rally at the Amway Center drew close to 20,000 supporters and the president said his office had received about 120,000 request to attend the event.
Two busloads of residents, the majority of whom belonged to Villagers for Trump, took chartered buses to the event. And another large group of club members held a watch party at Gator’s Dockside at Brownwood that night and loudly cheered for the president as he laid out his re-election plans.
Villagers for Trump is a grassroots effort to support the president that was founded by David Gee a little more than a year ago. The group now boasts 1,700 members, holds monthly rallies at Villages recreation centers and clearly has become the choice of Villages Republicans.
In November 2018, Trump learned firsthand about Villagers for Trump when the group’s vice president, Jim Volpe, was at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach with a friend who has known Trump for 20 years. Volpe had the opportunity to spend a few minutes with the president and he showed him the program from the club’s Oct. 29 Trump Day dinner.
“President Trump immediately thanked me and Villagers For Trump for their support,” Volpe said. “He loved the program.”
To his surprise, Volpe added, the president asked him his opinion regarding the rally he held in Tampa with future Gov. Ron DeSantis on July 31, 2018. That event, which was heavily attended by area residents, took place on the night after DeSantis held a rally at a Villagers for Trump meeting at the Laurel Manor Recreation Center.
“I immediately answered, “You won the election for Ron DeSantis,’” Volpe said of the former congressman who carried an endorsement from Trump and Villagers for Trump throughout his tight race against Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who was endorsed by former President Obama, notorious trial attorney John Morgan of Morgan & Morgan and “Blacklist” actress Megan Boone, who is the granddaughter of late Villages Developer Gary Morse and the daughter of Villages Vice President of Sales Jennifer Parr.
Members of Villagers for Trump also have been quite active in the past several months in showing their support for the president. Earlier this month, the group announced that it was selling Trump 2020 bottled water, which quickly proved to be a hot item among members.
The group also flocked to a busy intersection in Wildwood on July 19 and held a flag-waving event to support the president. Semi-truck air horns could be heard blaring and motorists were honking, waving and giving the thumbs-up sign as the group held signs and waved flags at the intersection of State Road 44 and U.S. 301.
On June 14, the group held a similar event at the corner of Morse Boulevard and County Road 466. That event was designed to celebrate Flag Day and Trump’s 73rd birthday.
Villagers for Trump also has held numerous golf cart rallies in Lake Sumter Landing and Spanish Springs Town Square. Some of those include:
- A large contingent of horn-honking, flag-waving members took to the streets in April touting freedom over socialism.
- Members made their thoughts known on immigration in January when they took their “Build the Wall” message to the streets of Lake Sumter Landing and Spanish Springs.
- This past October, the “Red Wave” roared to life as Villagers for Trump members touted the slate of GOP candidates running for office with a rally that featured 383 golf carts and about 800 people.
- A “Red Wave” parade also was held in August to show support for Trump and then-GOP candidates DeSantis (governor), Ashley Moody (attorney general) and Rick Scott (U.S. Senate).
- Sixty golf carts and 120 participants took to the streets of Florida’s Friendliest Hometown in March 2018 in a parade that included plenty of flag waving and horn honking.
David Gee, right, founder of Villagers for Trump, and his wife, Lynette, take part in an October 2018 parade that included 383 golf carts and about 800 people showing their support for the president and the slate of GOP candidates running in the Nov. 6 general election.
