ORLANDO, Fla. — The Women for Trump bus tour made an unscheduled stop Thursday at the memorial outside Pulse, a gay nightclub where an Islamic State-inspired terrorist slaughtered 49 people in June.
Paying respects at the memorial were Donald Trump surrogates, including daughter-in-law Laura Trump, “The Apprentice” star Omarosa Manigault, Trump Organization executive Lynne Patton and YouTube sensations Lynette “Diamond” Hardaway and Rochelle “Silk” Richardson.
They laid a wreath and bouquets of flowers at the makeshift memorial. They also wrote messages on the canvas-covered fence surrounding the building that is covered with handwritten remembrances for the victims and pleas for peace.
After the women left, a message written on a large hart-shaped drawing on the canvas read: “You will forever be in our hearts, love from NYC.”
The attack on Pulse was the deadliest mass shooting by a single shooter and the deadliest anti-gay violence in U.S. history.
The Women for Trump tour is currently crisscrossing the Sunshine state, which is a crucial battleground for the Republican presidential nominee.
The women declined to speak to a reporter who happened upon the scene.
A Trump campaign spokeswoman said they did not intend to generate publicity from the stop, but the women wanted to pay their respects.
After the shooting, Mr. Trump appealed for support from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) voters, saying his plan to temporarily ban Muslims for entering the United States would protect them from anti-gay radical Islamic terrorists.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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