Trump boat parades last summer resulted in injuries and accidents; some boaters want to organize more this summer

A 2020 rally at Lake Travis in Texas, where five boats capsized
(Photo by Bob Daemmerich)

Trump supporters across the nation staged many boat parades in lakes and rivers last summer, but law-enforcement officials, rally organizers and boaters say the events were often disorganized and a major source of boating accidents, Jose Pagliery reports for The Daily Beast. That could happen again this summer.

"In Tennessee alone, the state’s database shows that Trump flotillas made up a third of all 'congested water' accidents there last year," Pagliery reports. "National figures aren’t available that identify events as Trump flotillas, but a state-by-state review of incident reports in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Texas showed that most accidents never made the news." 

It's been difficult to find information on Trump boat parade accidents because "some government agencies claim to be missing records of publicly reported disasters. One docked boat sank into the St. Croix River in Wisconsin during a Labor Day weekend parade there, according to the local CBS Minnesota station, but the state’s Natural Resources Department said it has no log of an incident there that day," Pagliery reports. "The vast majority of the parades we reviewed took place on dammed bodies of water managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which issues permits. But it did not respond to questions or provide data."

Inexperienced or inattentive boaters were a big part of the problem, according to Rob Crafa, the waterfront director at the State University of New York’s Maritime College. "When you have boat parades like rallies, the energy there creates a different vibe," Crafa told Pagliery. "People standing in parts of the boat where they’re not supposed to, flags that may limit visibility for the operator of the boat, and if there’s loud music, bright sun, maybe alcohol involved … all these factors contributed to dangerous situations."

The choppiness of the water is another culprit, said George Birdwell, an investigator with Tennessee's Wildlife Resources Agency. "Big boats show up, and they try to go slow. But they’re still throwing a big wake, and small boats show up too, and they have to deal with those large wakes," he told Pagliery. That has caused injuries—some requiring hospitalization—and damage to boats. 

The boat parades, which President Trump reportedly loves, are still happening and may continue. Every Trump boater Pagliery interviewed said they're working on bringing them back.