SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) – Savannah Mayor Van Johnson and the City of Savannah are responding to concerns about the venue of former President Donald Trump’s campaign rally.
On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump spoke at the Johnny Mercer Theater.
Thousands of people were lined up outside the Savannah Civic Center hours before the rally, and people even began joining the lines on Monday evening.
Some people outside the theater expressed frustration that Trump was not in a larger venue while continuing to cheer him outside.
WTOC has reached out to Savannah Mayor Van Johnson and the City of Savannah with concerns about the rally venue.
The mayor of Savannah responded directly to the concerns.
“Absolute nonsense. The City of Savannah has no involvement in these matters whatsoever, aside from first responder and disaster relief services. The Oak View Group manages the Enmarket Arena as a commercial enterprise, and if the Trump campaign wanted to pay for it, they certainly could have used it. The Trump campaign chose the venue they were confident they could fill, and apparently the 2,565-seat venue at the Johnny Mercer Theater was more reasonable and easier for them to fill than the 9,500 seats at the Enmarket Arena,” said Mayor Van Johnson.
The City of Savannah also stated in this response that the mayor and city staff are not involved in booking venues for political rallies.
“EnMarket Arena and Johnny Mercer are managed by a third-party vendor, Oak View Group (OVG). Political campaigns book the venues through OVG. Although both are city property, the mayor and city staff are not involved in booking political rallies at the venues,” said city press secretary Josh Peacock.
The City of Savannah also clarified that both the Johnny Mercer Theater and the Enmarket Arena were made available to the Trump campaign.
According to city officials, the campaign team toured both venues and selected the Johnny Mercer Theater for Tuesday’s campaign rally.
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