Hundreds of Arizonans gathered in the blazing heat outside Generation Church in Mesa on Wednesday afternoon to see and hear Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance.
A high temperature well above 105 degrees wasn’t enough to turn away devoted followers of the 2024 Republican ticket who wanted to witness speeches by Vance, a U.S. senator from Ohio, and former President Donald Trump’s running mate; Kari Lake, the Arizona GOP nominee for the Senate; and Charlie Kirk, the Turning Point USA founder whose organization sponsored the event.
Fourteen patients were treated for heat-related illnesses, and one was taken to the hospital, according to Mesa Fire Department spokesperson Marrisa RamÃrez-Ramos.
Turning Point Action organizers handed out water to the crowd and set up shade tents in an effort to combat the high temperatures.
Attendees used limited onsite parking or shuttled in from the nearby Lowe’s store. Erik Wilson from Mesa was not one of those attendees, having rode his electric bicycle more than four miles in the heat to attend the event.