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Humbled Trump seeks warmer welcome in Florida
MIAMI, Jan 17, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – President Donald Trump will leave
Washington in disgrace next week, destined for a warmer welcome in Florida,
where some supporters are so gung-ho they recently wrote his name on the back
of a fat, lumbering manatee.
Days after suffering the ignominy of a second impeachment, Trump will skip
his successor Joe Biden’s inauguration and depart early Wednesday for his
Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Apparently, he plans to live there.
There are also signs his adult children will decamp south to be near their
father, who was cut off from Twitter and other social networks that were his
megaphone after being widely accused of instigating the January 6 assault by
his supporters on the US Capitol.
Locals can already be heard whispering, angrily, “There goes the
neighborhood.” They are not happy with the prospect of Trump settling among
them.
Last month people in Palm Beach sent the city council a letter recalling
that under a 1993 agreement, Mar-a-Lago was not zoned as a full-time
residence.
That letter, published by The Washington Post, states that use of the
living quarters at the golf resort “shall be limited to a maximum of three
(3) non-consecutive seven (7) day periods by any one member during the year.”
The resort denies that the 1993 accord contains this restriction.
The Post noted that the president already spends large amounts of time at
the resort in violation of this rule, and he is expected to put up a fight
against those who do not want him around.
But that’s only the beginning of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago woes.
This week Palm Beach County officials issued the resort a warning over a
New Year’s Eve party at which guests did not wear masks or observe social
distancing rules.
Trump’s son Don Jr had posted a video of the festivities showing people
dancing to 1989 hit “Ice Ice Baby” by the rapper Vanilla Ice, who performed
live.
The county warned that any future violation of pandemic restrictions would
mean a fine of $15,000.
– Solid base –
“The Trumps may be surprised to learn that the voter rolls in the three
main South Florida counties — Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade — are
dominated by Democrats,” said Craig Pittman, a Florida native and the author
of five books on the state.
“In fact, the congressional representative for the district that covers
Mar-A-Lago, Lois Frankel, has voted not once but twice to impeach her most
famous constituent,” Pittman said.
Still, over the past four years Trump has built up a solid base of support
in Florida, mainly among non-urban white people and conservative Latinos.
One of his most loyal followers is Miami Cuban-American Enrique Tarrio, a
leader of the right-wing Proud Boys group.
MORE/MSY/0922 hrs
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Trump’s support is so strong in Florida that last Sunday a live manatee
was found with “Trump” etched onto its back.
But after the assault on Congress, Trump is on thin ice.
Al Cardenas, former chairman of the Republican Party in Florida, told the
Tampa Bay Times that Republicans in the state are terrified of losing the
support of people who back Trump.
Dozens of Trump supporters rallied outside the Miami home of Republican
Senator Marco Rubio, calling him a traitor for his support in Congress to
certify Biden’s win and reject Trump’s baseless allegations that the election
was rigged.
– Reality at Mar-a-Lago –
With the Trump family’s arrival, the US gossip press will be busy.
Chatter for now is centering on Tiffany Trump, the president’s 27-year-old
daughter, who according to the tabloid Page Six is shopping for a house while
she lives in South Beach.
The same news outlet reported last month that Ivanka Trump and her
husband, Jared Kushner, an advisor to the president, have bought a $30
million lot in Indian Creek Village, an island north of Miami Beach known to
be one of the most expensive places in the country.
Donald Trump Jr and his partner Kimberly Guilfoyle are said to be looking
for digs in Jupiter, north of Palm Beach.
All this begs the question: What will the Trumps do once installed in
Florida?
“Perhaps once they find a suitable place to settle down here, the Trumps
will find a fresh outlet for their energies, as the post-presidential Jimmy
Carter did with Habitat for Humanity,” said Pittman.
“There are plenty of poor folks in Florida who could use their help,” he
said.
But, referencing one of the president’s more infamous moments, in which he
visited Puerto Rico hurricane victims in 2017, Pittman added: “It would need
to be something more substantial than just tossing them rolls of paper
towels.”
BSS/AFP/MSY/0922 hrs