Former President Donald Trump wasn’t on the big red bus as it pulled up to the gun store and firing range, but several former Trump administration officials carried many of his policy ideas aboard the America First Agenda Bus as it stopped Monday afternoon at Hoover Tactical Firearms.
Dozens of Alabama Republican Party officials including party chairman John Wahl were on hand to meet the bus and hear a pep talk from Ashley Hayek, former national coalitions director of the Trump 2020 campaign.
Clay Shoemaker, former senior digital strategist in the Trump administration and Hilton Beckham, who worked in the communications office for Trump, also arrived on the bus. Shoemaker said that whether or not Trump runs for president again in 2024, the agenda will be a factor for whoever the Republican nominee is.
Hayek said the “America First” agenda continues to battle the “radical left” as midterm elections approach.
“The radical left has over 300 individual organizations, compared to less than 100 of what America First has,” said Hayek, chief engagement officer for the America First Policy Institute and Executive Director of America First Works. “It’s absolutely insane the amount of funding that they have, the amount of organizations they have, what they’re able to do. It’s time we have to really step up and think longer term too. One thing the previous administration did really well too is outreach to different groups that were historically ignored.”
The “America First Agenda,” listed on the AFPI website, includes making America energy independent and making it “easy to vote and hard to cheat,” and giving parents more control over their children’s education.
“We’re not just going to show up when it’s 50 days from the election cycle to try and get a vote,” Hayek said. “This is a long-term, multigenerational play for the heart and soul of our country. It’s a 100-year plan.”
The bus had recently been in Georgia and was on its way to Illinois as it crisscrosses the country promoting Trump’s policies leading up to the mid-term election.
Republican activists only got word over the weekend that the bus would stop in Hoover. Supporters filed into Hoover Tactical, maneuvered past the sound of gunfire in the shooting range and into a meeting room where they were offered free T-shirts and caps emblazoned with a “1776″ logo.
Wahl introduced Hayek and spoke to Republican loyalists.
“You care about this election that we have coming up,” Wahl said. “We really do believe that America First policies and Republican Party policies will best help the citizens of this country be safe, successful and accomplish what they want with their lives.”
“We like to think of ourselves as a do-tank, not just a think tank,” Hayek said. “We’re pro-family, we’re pro-God, we’re pro-gun, we’re pro small business. The message resonates.”
Ashley Hayek, former national coalitions director for the Trump 2020 campaign, speaks to Alabama Republicans at Hoover Tactical Firearms on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022. (Photo by Greg Garrison/AL.com)