WASHINGTON — Donald J. Trump,
the Manhattan real estate mogul who boasts about his wealth, maintains a
fleet of aircraft and sells his own brand of neckties, paid respects on
Sunday to an incongruous constituency.
“Look
at all these bikers,” Mr. Trump, standing before a crowd in front of
the Lincoln Memorial, said with admiration. “Do we love the bikers? Yes.
We love the bikers.”
Mr.
Trump was addressing a gathering at the 29th annual Rolling Thunder
motorcycle run, a vast event over Memorial Day weekend that is dedicated
to accounting for military members taken as prisoners of war or listed
as missing in action.
Bikers
assembled at the Pentagon before riding en masse into the nation’s
capital, with many dressed in leather vests covered in patches, their
bikes rumbling throughout the afternoon.
For
the blunt-spoken Mr. Trump, who likes to stress his desire to
strengthen the military and improve how veterans are treated, the
gathering provided a receptive audience, if one where he might otherwise
seem out of place.
“He
speaks what’s on his mind and means what he says,” said Tom Christian,
43, a heating and air-conditioning contractor from Tennessee. “And
that’s what a biker does. That’s the way we are: We say what we think.
If you like it, you like it. If you don’t, go the other way.”
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