Rhode Island Republicans Hope To Spark Party With Boat Rally

NEWPORT, RI – Laura Larrivee understands enough about Rhode Island politics to know that the state, as a whole, is never going to support President Donald Trump’s bid for a second term in the White House in November.

But that won’t keep her and other conservative Republicans from making their support for Trump known Sunday in a boat parade that Larrivee said has already drawn the attention of more than 100 boat owners from around Rhode Island.

Larrivee, the event organizer who lives in Barrington, told Patch on Friday that she hopes Sunday’s parade – which is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. under Newport Bridge– rejuvenates conservatives across Rhode Island at a time when she said that voicing vocal support for Trump can be difficult. As of Friday, more than 350 people had indicated they plan to attend Sunday’s boat parade, according to the “Let’s Turn the Harbor Red” event page on Facebook.

While she knows Sunday’s event won’t change the direction of how the majority of Rhode Islanders will vote for the Office of President in November, Larrivee believes that the support shown by conservatives can impact other races.

“We have to vote,” Larrivee said Friday. “The smaller elections matter and sometimes, they matter more. And so we hope everyone just gets out there and votes and votes in person. It’s our duty to vote and I don’t want (Republicans) to lose sight of that. You live in liberal state and it gets discouraging sometimes, but we can’t let that happen.”

Larrivee said she is rarely, if ever, out in public without some visual support of Trump, whether it be a baseball cap or T-shirt or face-covering. And while she has run into her share of opposition, she said she has found support, albeit much quieter, because they are fearful of how they will be scrutinized.

On Sunday, when boats move toward north toward Bristol and travel just past Colt Park, Larrivee said there will be no mistaking who participants will be supporting in November. She hopes Sunday’s boat parade will have a similar impact as a recent boat rally in Florida did when the event attempted to establish a new Guinness Book of World Records mark for the biggest boat rally.

A similar event in South Carolina earlier this summer reportedly drew more than 3,000 boats, but Guinness Book of World Records officials still consider the official record to be 1,180 boats at an event in 2014. Although Sunday's event is scheduled to be much smaller, Larrivee insists it can send a clear message.

“This Sunday, I think Rhode Island is going to see just how many of us (conservatives) there are. I think people hide the fact that they are Trump supporters and conservatives, but I think Sunday’s that going to change.

“I hope this empowers people to speak their mind, peacefully of course, because that’s what we are, we’re peaceful Americans, we support our President, we don’t want trouble. We don’t want to oppose anyone else’s views just like we want to have our views.”

Trump voiced his support for last weekend’s boat rally in Florida in a video released by his campaign. In the video, Trump praised Republicans who have participated in boat rally events and said that had he had the time, he would have liked to be on one of the boats flying a flag supportive of his campaign.

Larrivee said she is hopeful that Sunday’s Newport event will draw similar support and said that a couple of senators have said they plan to attend as conservatives continue to show their support for Trump and his election hopes in November.

“I think that the President will hear about it and I think he gets a kick out of all these boat rallies,” Larrivee said. “So I’m sure he will definitely hear about this and that he will be pleased.”