GAGOP Officer Prevented From Going Backstage At Trump Rally
[McNeely] was escorted out of Atlanta’s Fox Theatre by Secret Service after being told there was “no more room for you” by Trump campaign state director Brandon Phillips, according to a party official briefed on the incident. The official requested anonymity said they were not authorized to speak on behalf of the party.
McNeely was stopped while trying to enter an area where Trump had been greeting supporters, the sources said. Neither Phillips, the Trump campaign, nor the Georgia Republican Party returned messages seeking comment.
While there was no published reason for McNeely being removed from the Fox, Bruce LeVell, who chairs the National Diversity Coalition for Trump, and who was present at the event, told Buzzfeed “They’re real strict about [acting] if something doesn’t look right. They just make a judgment call.”
McNeely is a delegate to the Republican National Convention to be held in Cleveland in July.
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Jon Richards
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Not just out of the backstage area but out of the theatre? About that proposed 20% African-American vote, keep this up and it will be < 1% with a 90% turnout. And Georgia Republicans can be glad that most of the local elections are uncontested.
I don't care what it takes at the convention. Dump Trump.
I’ve no idea whether McNeely had a ticket or not, someone without even a ticket to the event pressing for special access would be ripe for ejection from a venue.
“I don’t care what it takes at the convention. Dump Trump.”
Amen. The man is an idiot and the people around him are thugs of the first caliber.
All I have to say is that security questioned me … and let me stay in the audience. This, despite calling Trump a fascist in a place I know darned well the local folks would read it.
I got nothin’.
1) I have no idea what the facts of this case are.
2) I’m generally a fan of Mr. McNeely. Trump…not so much.
3) With the above stipulated, I’ve worked with the advance people on events like this. It’s always something done well in advance of who goes where, and who doesn’t. One I recall in particular from two decades ago also became a national news story because “someone” wouldn’t return a call to the office or anyone else associated with the campaign stop, but decided the day of the event to not only attend, but that he was to have a role and be on stage. The Secret Service list had long since been approved, and this “gentleman” wasn’t on it.
So, It would be easy for me to take a pot shot at the Trump folks. I’m always happy to defend Michael. But I’m guessing somewhere in here is a mix up of an understanding of who is supposed to be where, and it appears to have escalated quickly from there.
Well stated.
You and your looking for facts…
That crossed my mind, but there isn’t enough information available to form much of an opinion.
Apparently Michael McNeely is more concerned about the big picture as opposed to the petty BS. My kind of guy.
Michael McNeely
44 mins ·
Great time at the Trump Rally in Atlanta last week. Looking forward to the Republican National Convention and defeating Hillary Clinton in November!
Michael McNeely’s photo.
FWIW, the photo McNeely posted this evening to Twitter from the event appears to show him with a VIP badge. https://twitter.com/michaelmcneely/status/745420096907051013
Looks like there’s more to this story than we think. Here’s a Facebook post I stumbled upon…
“I’m in no way tied to any party or campaign so hear the truth from me. Two black men have their eyes set on being elected GAGOP chair in 2017.one is a rising star and the other is an old guard black republican who has done nothing to grow the party except his business and he wants to be the chair next year. The young gun did not bite and left without causing a scene which would have hurt trump. But the old guard who is supposedly for trump did harm in his effort to be petty and butch like. No story here except that trumps African American support by the old guard is for money and to get jewelry customers. The young guns want to affect real change. Stay strong MM and learn the lesson.”
It sounds like your source, which is odd you don’t mention… doesn’t have a lot of history with the party. It’s too bad people can just spout random nonsense and others suck it in and then post it somewhere else… without citation.
McNeely had the opportunity to kill the story and chose not to so his Twitter post last evening only goes to prove that he is a politician. In the BuzzFeed story posted earlier in the day:
“Reached by phone regarding the incident, McNeely told BuzzFeed News, “I’ll have to get back to you” before hanging up.”