Donald Trump hosted a campaign rally over the weekend in Coachella, California, where thousands of his supporters found themselves stranded after dark when the buses that drove them 5 miles into the desert never came back to pick them up.
The situation came to light through a series of videos shared on social media from Saturday night into Sunday, depicting a chaotic scene as a massive crowd wandered through the desert in the middle of the night.
The ordeal ignited outrage on Instagram, X and TikTok, with attendees documenting the mayhem as they had no choice but to walk more than two hours to the parking lot.
Many critics accused the Republican nominee of providing only one-way transportation to the rally, leaving his supporters high and dry without a ride back to their vehicles.
Reports from the scene indicated there were initially 20 to 30 buses available, however, only one remained in operation after dark, resulting in a turnaround time for each drop-off of 30 minutes, which left thousands desperate for a way out.
Adding to the chaos, an X user named @WesleyxJohnson attempted to defend Trump by making a series of conspiratorial claims from the scene in which he accused local officials of orchestrating a setup to sabotage the rally.
Well, at least Trump had a "concept" of transportation.
— S. Johannes, PhD (@Sterlingartz) October 13, 2024
Because the car park was five miles from the venue, Trump bussed in thousands of eager MAGA to his Coachella 'rally' — but apparently the campaign didn't inform the bus company they ALSO had to pick them up afterwards… pic.twitter.com/egK6DfMqZy
“This needs to be investigated immediately,” Johnson said in one post on X.
Moments later, he posted again, saying, “Someone please reach out to Sheriff Chad Bianco and President Trump to get to the bottom of this. I think something nefarious went down tonight trying to spark a riot.”
Johnson claimed, without evidence, that the bus drivers ran out of gas as they drove around looking to refuel.
“ALL of the fuel stations for BUSES (not cars) were completely depleted, ”he said, claiming he had spoken with people who heard the sheriff give an update on the matter. “There were apparently 60 buses employed for this event,” he added, “and the fuel reserves were completely depleted or never refilled before the event.”
Wesley, contacting the bus company, reason why there were no buses, company needed payment prior and the campaign would not pay them for the services. So they refused service. It was absolutely their right to do so, but sadly you people were hurt in the process. Hopefully you’ve…
— map 🇺🇦 (@mapnotes) October 13, 2024
“Smells like sabotage!” Johnson asserted, though no official reports indicated foul play. Johnson then suggested that, “Someone needs to ask the Coachella mayor if he had anything to do with this.”
Later he tagged Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance on his posts, presumably to amplify the conspiracy to a broader audience.
In a separate video re-shared on X, Johnson explained, “This isn’t normal. Apparently, the buses are no longer coming. Or at least there used to be like 20 buses when we were being brought here. But now there’s only like three buses operating, and it’s an absolute… It’s just chaos, absolute chaos. All of us are stranded here. Everyone’s stranded here.”
Political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen refuted these claims in a Facebook video that showcased Johnson’s apparent effort to shift the blame away from Donald Trump for leaving his supporters stranded.
“Because even when there’s a simple solution, that Donald Trump didn’t give enough of a sh-t about how his fans got back once he got what he needed, which was their applause, still these people will bend over backwards, cooking up conspiracy theories about how actually it’s the evil Communist-Marxist Democrats who are responsible for Trump not getting his fans transportation back to their cars,” Cohen said in his latest take-down of the Republican ticket. “Even if it’s obviously Trump’s fault, it’s never Trump’s fault.”
Ultimately, Johnson deleted his posts after other X users pointed out his inaccuracies.
Throughout the weekend, social media users had a field day making fun of Trump supporters for getting caught up in yet another one of his schemes.
In one of these critiques, TikTok user @pandaross0 delivered a hilarious monologue mocking the gullibility of Trump supporters, suggesting they walked headfirst into a trap.
“He shipped all the people out to way, way, way out into nowhere. Cause he didn’t want nobody to leave his rally,” she said with comic delivery.
“Boy, he smart, he smart, ’cause ain’t nobody gonna walk back two or three hours to get to their car, they gonna wait until it’s over to go ahead catch that free ride back. Only thing about it is, he paid for y’all to get there, but then he didn’t pay for y’all to get back. You had to walk back!” she continued.
“And y’all still going to the polls to vote for that man? He don’t care about you. And he just showed you. But some of y’all dumb enough to talk about, ‘We need an investigation, try to find out what’s going on, why did they do this?’ Who’s behind it? Trump behind it! Trump behind it! Come on people, wake up. He don’t care about you, child!” the TikTok user added.
Voices from the scene were more dire, describing the situation as “a nightmare.”
Even the line to park was “a mile long” and “and the cars were not moving,” according to @shannonachristine55, who arrived at the event with her husband. They parked about a mile away from the venue, then waited an hour in line for a shuttle that never came. Ultimately they decided to leave.
X user @AmoneyResists shared a video from the scene, blasting Trump.
Trump’s Coachella crowd was left stranded in the middle of nowhere (because that’s where the rally was held) almost 6 MILES from their cars with virtually no buses operating after it was over. This is how he treats his most loyal supporters. MAGA, HE DOESN’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOU pic.twitter.com/sGQxIum6Rm
— Andrew—Author of America Rises On Substack (@AmoneyResists) October 13, 2024
“This is how he treats his most loyal supporters. MAGA, HE DOESN’T GIVE A F-CK ABOUT YOU,” he wrote.
Countless voices ridiculed Trump by replaying sound bites from his debate disaster with Kamala Harris last month.
“Well, at least Trump had a ‘concept’ of transportation,” jabbed @Sterlingartz. “Because the car park was five miles from the venue, Trump bussed in thousands of eager MAGA to his Coachella ‘rally’ — but apparently the campaign didn’t inform the bus company they ALSO had to pick them up afterwards.”
Some X users shared screenshots of Johnson’s bogus claims to mock his attempt to ignite a MAGA conspiracy.
“Trump didn’t pay the bill for the buses to return? Shocker,” wrote @RegiieinSeattle.
Trump didn't pay the bill for the buses to return? Shocker. #Coachella #CoachellaRally pic.twitter.com/4GFwEvUrJY
— ReggieInSeattle (@ReggieinSeattle) October 13, 2024
The event was limited to a maximum capacity of 15,000 people, according to The Desert Sun, while Trump falsely claimed that 100,000 were in the crowd.
Adding to the misery, attendees endured sweltering temperatures of around 100°F for hours as they waited for Trump to take the stage, leading to multiple reports of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
Trump made the stop in Coachella between visits to Las Vegas and Prescott, Arizona.
The trip was widely regarded as a fruitless effort for Trump, given that California is a state he’s almost certain to lose in this year’s election, as he did in 2016 and 2020.
Trump gave a rambling 80-minute speech, expressing grievances about California being a blue state, and ranting about the high number of undocumented immigrants, homelessness, and numerous regulations.
“We’re not going to let Kamala Harris do to America what she did to California,” Trump said, referring to Harris’ previous career as the state’s junior senator and attorney general.
The speech reflected a pattern of incoherence for Trump, marked by a troubling tendency to ramble and contradict himself, further fueling concerns about his grasp on key issues and the impact of his age.
At one point, Trump was interrupted by a woman heckling him from the audience. In response, he said, “Go back home to mommy,” suggesting that she should “get the hell knocked out of her” while she was being ejected.
“Back home to mommy. She goes back home to mommy,” Trump continued to cheers while crudely imitating the woman’s mother: “‘Was that you, darling?’ And she gets the hell knocked out of her.”
Last week he gave an awkward and disjointed speech at the Detroit Economics Club, where he ranted for nearly two hours about tariffs and vehemently opposing government mandates on electric vehicles.
During remarks, Trump also insulted the Motor City while trying to attack Harris on immigration.
“The whole country will be like — you want to know the truth? It’ll be like Detroit,” Trump said. “Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president.”
The abandonment of the shuttles mirrored Trump’s 2020 campaign rallies, where his supporters were often left stranded by transportation services and had to walk back to their vehicles alone, sometimes braving freezing temperatures and snow.
