Crowds of Trump supporters turn out for rally at Lancaster Airport in campaign's final days

Earl Jones, 26, of Hamer, South Carolina, sells Trump merchandise.

Saturday, he was at Trump's rally in Virginia. He drove the 300 miles to Lancaster Airport in more than five hours, sleeping in his car after he arrived around 3 a.m. Sunday.

After Lancaster, he planned to head to Pittsburgh, where Trump is scheduled to appear on Monday.

Jones said he's been selling Trump merchandise since 2016 and figures he's been to nearly every state.

He got into the merchandising business through his father; he said they also sell outside NFL games and the like.

Jones is also Black.

Since he's in the merchandise business, would he sell Kamala Harris merchandise? After all, money isn't red or blue: It's green.

"No sir," he replies, standing along Airport Road in Manheim Township, more than an hour ahead of when Trump was scheduled to speak.

Dressed in camouflage coveralls, Jones said he supports Trump "because he's a business guy. He's an up-front guy. Most people don't like his mouth, but I love his mouth. He's a very nice guy. I feel like he's about business. The economy was better when he was in office," Jones said, joking he needs Trump in office to lower gas prices because he drives so much.

Among the Trump supporters making their way up Airport Road to the rally entrance was Lindsey Hobbs, 28, a daycare teacher from Lebanon. She had just bought a red-white-and-blue knit beanie that said "Trump 2024" for $25 from a different vendor.

"He's for the people and I know he'll do good things," she said. "He's a self-made billionaire. I think he can do the same for the country."

Shortly after 8 a.m., the line to get into the rally site stretched about four-tenths of a mile along Airport Road from the security entrance west toward Lititz Pike, as measured by the GPS watch worn by an LNP | LancasterOnline reporter.

The mood was jovial as people waited, some for hours, to get into the rally — perhaps buoyed by an additional hour of sleep and sunny, mild weather. In one area, a group of young girls — years away from voting age — broke into a chant of "USA, USA."

When Trump visited the Lancaster County Convention Center downtown two weeks ago, at least 100 Democrats protested. By contrast, an LNP reporter saw only one outside the airport rally site.

David Trimble, 79, of Lititz, a retired surveyor, also protested at Trump's convention center visit. He gave the same reason for being out on Sunday: "To jab at the belly of the monster ...

"This is insane, man, this is insane. The people may vote for this tyrant, this dictator — future dictator," Trimble said.

On his back, Trimble wore a laminated print of The New Republic magazine's June cover, which featured an illustration combining the faces of Trump and Hitler and the words, "What American fascism would look like."

On his front, Trimble wore a large sign with rainbow lettering that said, "Disarm hate" and a laminated cover of "Penthouse" magazine with Stormy Daniels on the cover.

After the roughly 90-minute Trump speech, filled with plenty of jabs at Kamala Harris and the media, LNP | LancasterOnline asked Lititz resident Ken Gappa, a carpenter, what in Trump's message should swing an undecided voter to vote for the former president on Tuesday.

"Safety. Security for the country and our communities is number one. OK? That's what the president needs to do. He's the only one right now," said Gappa, who gave his age as "50 something"