Donald Trump has wrapped up his Tucson rally, ending his speech at about 4:10 p.m. by telling a crowd of about 5,000 that they will always remember this day and that they will say the votes they cast for him Tuesday will be their greatest votes ever.
He took the stage at about 3:30 p.m. at the Tucson Convention Center, and was repeatedly interrupted by protesters before they were escorted out by police and security.
Trump called a protester a "real disgusting guy" and complained they are "taking away our First Amendment rights." The removal of that man temporarily halted the rally action, and the crowd started chanting "USA! USA!"
"Get them out of here, get them out of here," Trump said, saying protesters are bad people who would burn the American flag. At one point, someone kicked a protester in the crowd.
The crowd was estimated at 5,000, but Trump said some 2,500 more were waiting to get in. He predicted that if Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz or John Kasich came to Tucson, there would be less than 200 people.
Trump turned immediately to the border issue, saying as he often does, "We are going to build that way, and Mexico is going to pay for that wall." He estimated the cost at $10 billion.
Later in his speech, he pointed to a "Latino Loves Trump" sign, started shouting he loves the woman and asked her to give him the sign. After the woman posed with Trump, he gives her sign back.
He said he will unify this country; then waited as more protesters are escorted away.Β
Daniela MuΓ±oz Alvarez and Veronica Encinias, a Pueblo High teacher, said they were escorted out of the rally by police and security. They were kicked out because they caring protest signs. It's a private event, they were told.Β
Trump railed repeatedly against Cruz, calling him a liar and a Canadian; and blasted Kasich for voting for NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.Β
"I made billions of money working with China," Trump boasted. He said trade will improve under his watch.
He told the crowd the way he runs his businesses is how the entire country should be run. He will make Apple build its products in the U.S., he said, and added that he will build new infrastructure, new roads as well as 300-mile-an-hour trains.
"I will knock hell out of ISIS," he said. He also read from the lyrics of Al Wilson's "The Snake" to explain terrorism in the U.S.
He said he will do "numbers" on the trade deal with Iran. "You will be sooo proud of me."
Turning to health care, he said he will get rid of ObamaCare, calling it a disaster, and that he will replace it with something that is "so much better."
The crowd roared as Trump promised to defend Second Amendment rights.
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The audience applauded wildly as Arpaio previously took the stage.
"I didn't think anyone likes me in Tucson," Arpaio quipped.
The sheriff said he arrested protesters at Trump's rally in Fountain Hills earlier today, and that he will "pay a visit" to protesters outside the TCC.
Former Gov. Jan Brewer has spoken, saying the federal government has failed us miserably. "
"He is going to build that wall," Brewer says of Trump. "He is going to restructure the tax structure for you and I."
Brewer, author of "Scorpions for Breakfast," says "the establishment" must be reminded that Trump has 2 million more votes than the nearest candidate.
State Treasurer Jeff DeWit took the stage before her, praising the audience and calling the people outside "jerks" who have a "First Amendment right to be stupid."
The crowd is booing at the mention of President Obama, as a speaker says he will be forced to give the keys to the White House to Trump in January.
Earlier, protesters moved to the door at the Tucson Convention Center, where a long line of people waited to get into the rally. They got into each other's faces somewhat, but police kept things under control.
The line of Trump supporters stretched around the center, and almost doubled in length between noon and 1 p.m. today.Β
Brewer, a Trump supporter, tweeted a photo of herself in front of Trump's plane at about 1:30 p.m., saying it was about to depart Phoenix for Tucson. Trump himself tweeted a photo of his Phoenix-area rally earlier in the day and wrote, "Thank you Arizona."
As they waited in Tucson, peddlers sold a wide variety of Trump campaign merchandise outside the Convention Center, while Trump supporters put finishing touches on their signs. One mom drew an anti-Common Core education message on her 6-year-old daughter's tee-shirt.
One small group of silent protesters stood under a tree nearby and a second group gathered in the parking lot. About 1:45 p.m., a more vocal protest erupted, with people yelling "Trump is a racist and so are his supporters." Β
At one point, a man began yelling angrily at a news reporter. Later, inside, he appeared to get in a scuffle,Β
Earlier today, demonstrators matched through a crowd that gathered at the edge of a park in a Phoenix suburb as a Trump campaign rally was set to begin, The Associated Press reported.
The protesters, who earlier Saturday had blocked the main highway leading to the event, were outside the perimeter set up by the Secret Service around the main rally site but still surrounded by thousands of Trump backers.
Trump's motorcade arrived just as the demonstrators weaved through the crowd. He was set to speak there alongside Arizona's contentious Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
The demonstrators were barely visible behind the Trump supporters, who waved signs saying "Hillary for Prison" β referring to Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton β and "Joe for VP," referring to Arpaio.
The Republican front-runner is among several presidential candidates visiting Arizona in advance of Tuesday's presidential preference election in the state.
Bernie Sanders was in Tucson Friday night and Bill Clinton will campaign for Hillary Clinton here on Sunday.
