Myrtle Beach mayor reacts to Trump’s ‘infuriating’ comments at Conway rally

CONWAY, S.C. (WBTW) — Former President Donald Trump’s ‘Get Out the Vote’ rally Saturday afternoon at Coastal Carolina University left some people offended, including Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune.

Some of his strongest comments were about Republican presidential rival Nikki Haley’s husband. Michael Haley is currently deployed with the Army National Guard in Africa.

“Where’s her husband?” Trump asked. “He’s away. What happened to her husband? What happened to her husband? Where is he? He’s gone. He knew.”

Bethune, a Haley supporter who introduced her at a January rally at CCU, said Trump’s comments prove that he’s not supportive of the military.

“I think we all expected Trump to come to this area at some point, but I don’t think the rally helped him at all,” Bethune said. “Actually, I think it hurt him by some of the infuriating comments he made. It’s just wrong to make those kinds of comments, and it shows Donald Trump will do or say anything to try and get people riled up,”

Several thousand people attended the afternoon rally at CCU’s HTC Center, including many students who said they were there for the experience.

“I got there around 7 [or] 7:30 in the morning, and the lines were already backed up to the fields right by the track,” junior Caleb Adkins said.

Adkins said this was his first presidential rally.

“I just wanted to see a part of history, you know,” Adkins said. “It’s not often that a prior president has come to your school, so I just wanted to go and see it in person.”

Horry County Councilman Michael Masciarelli said he didn’t go to the rally but was encouraged when he heard how many college students went.

“Seeing college-age students, people in their 20s, early 30s attending the rally,” Masciarelli said. “Not saying they were there to support candidate Trump, but the fact that they took the time to go listen for themselves.”

Bethune said she thinks Trump’s campaign tactics will not change. She said Trump will continue to cause drama, call people names and focus on himself rather than what the country needs.

Early voting for the Republican primary opened on Monday. The primary will be on Feb. 24.

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Jackie LiBrizzi is a multimedia journalist at News13. Jackie is originally from Hamilton, New Jersey, and was raised in Piedmont, South Carolina. Jackie joined the News13 team in June 2023 after she graduated as a student-athlete from the University of South Carolina in May 2023. Follow Jackie on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, and read more of her work here.

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