Boaters journey to Mar-a-Lago in support of Donald Trump after coronavirus restrictions eased
A large boating parade in Palm Beach County caught the attention of President Donald Trump.
Hundreds of boaters, flying their favorite Trump paraphernalia, sailed from Jupiter Inlet to Mar-a-Lago Sunday to show their support of the president. He later expressed his gratitude on Twitter.
“Thank you very much to our beautiful ‘boaters,’” Trump tweeted Sunday alongside a video of the festivities. “I will never let you down!”
Dubbed “Trumptilla,” the event garnered about 1,200 boats at its height although only 360 actually completed the journey to the winter White House, the Palm Beach Post reported.
Carlos Gavidia, 53, organized the parade to “honor President Trump for all he is doing to ‘Keep America Great,’” read the Facebook event description. He recently outfitted his 42-foot boat with a $7,000 wrap of Trump regalia after one of his neighbors complained about his Trump flag, according to the newspaper. The 53-year-old, who recently told Fox News that he survived COVID-19 because of a highly controversial anti-malaria drug, said that the parade and his boat’s renovation were his way of thanking the president.
“When the boat got wrapped there was some mixed feelings but more people were cheering me on,” Gavidia told the Palm Beach Post, adding that he even renamed the boat “Trump.” “I know people who trailered their boats from Daytona Beach to participate today.”
The president quote-tweeted a video of Gavidia’s boat on Friday.
This parade followed Trump 2020 Floatilla, another boating get-together in Palm Beach County, which took place Saturday. Similar to Trumptilla, Floatilla began in Boynton Beach, cruised past Mar-a-Lago and continued north to Jupiter Inlet.
Boaters had previously been unable to launch for weeks due to mandates enacted to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The county eased restrictions on Friday.
This story was originally published May 4, 2020 at 5:15 PM.
