History seems to have repeated itself.   

On October 12, hundreds of Donald Trump followers were left stranded in the California desert after a rally in the Coachella Valley. 

Despite the intense heat that soared to over 100 degrees, thousands of passionate Trump supporters braved the elements to hear the former President speak. During the rally, some supporters reportedly collapsed because of the stifling heat.  

Prior to the event, buses were provided to transport supporters to the rally location. Trump loves to brag about the size of  his rallies, so no effort was spared to bus them into Calhoun Ranch, which was situated about five miles from where they had parked their vehicles.

He spoke for almost 90 minutes, then left the stage at about 7 p.m.

Donald Trump

That was when chaos erupted. 

Instead of being shuttled away from the venue, many Stormtrumpers were left stranded in 93 degree heat. No buses showed up to return them to their cars, which were miles away. This left many attendees scrambling to find their way home. 

“Apparently the buses are no longer coming,” one Stormtrumper posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, more than three hours after the rally.

“There used to be like 20 buses when we were being brought here, but now there’s only like three buses operating. It’s just chaos, absolute chaos. All of us are stranded here, everyone is stranded here.”   

Two hours after the rally, another Stormtrumper railed on X: “Parking lot is a two-hour walk. Countless elderly stranded here and can’t walk anymore. No restroom facilities accessible anymore. Something nefarious went down tonight to spark a riot.”

He claimed that a bus driver had told attendees that “ALL of the fuel stations for BUSES (not cars) were completely depleted,” which meant some of the bus drivers were stranded without gas.

“There were apparently 60 buses employed for this event,” he added, “and the fuel reserves were completely depleted or never refilled before the event. Smells like sabotage!” 

A Trump campaign bus

In fact, the only villain at work lay in Trump’s complete indifference to his supporters after they filled seats for TV cameras at the rally.

“Thousands of people were stranded after the Trump rally in Coachella on Saturday night. The Trump campaign provided buses to bring people to the rally but no busses showed up to take them back to their cars,” Republicans Against Trump posted. “Trump doesn’t care about anyone but himself.”

A similar “Screw your followers” event had occurred almost 12 years earlier, on November 6, 2012.

President Barack Obama soundly defeated Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney and won a second term in the White House.

Then—according to NBC reporter Garrett Haake:

“From the moment Mitt Romney stepped off stage Tuesday night, having just delivered a brief concession speech he wrote only that evening, the massive infrastructure surrounding his campaign quickly began to disassemble itself.

“Aides taking cabs home late that night got rude awakenings when they found the credit cards linked to the campaign no longer worked.”

The Romney campaign—having no more use for its loyal staffers—had given them the heave-ho.

More than 2,000 years ago, the ancient historian, Plutarch, in his biography of Alexander the Great, made this timeless observation about human character: “And the most glorious exploits do not always furnish us with the clearest discoveries of virtue or vice in men.

“Sometimes a matter of less moment, an expression or a jest, informs us better of their characters and inclinations, than the most famous sieges, the greatest armaments, or the bloodiest battles whatsoever.”

Clearly, sometime before Election Night, arrangements had been made to cancel those credit cards. And  why not?  Whether he entered the White House or returned home, those who had sacrificed so much of their time and energy would now be completely useless to Romney.

Romney was not only rich (with an estimated fortune of at least $250 million) he had made it clear that the rich were the only group he truly cared about. This was, after all, the candidate who made statements like: 

• “I have friends who are owners of NASCAR Teams.”
• “Ann drives a couple of Cadillacs.”
• “Corporations are people, my friend.”
• “Forty-seven percent are dependent upon government.”
• “I like being able to fire people.” 

So when the curtain finally dropped on Romney’s six-year quest to become Plutocrat-in-Chief, there was no reason for him to do anything but exit quickly and let his loyal followers fend for themselves.

In giving his concession speech, Romney paid tribute to those who had sacrificed so much on his behalf:

“To the team across the country—the volunteers, the fundraisers, the donors, the surrogates—I don’t believe that there’s ever been an effort in our party that can compare with what you have done over these past years. Thank you so very much.”

For Mitt Romney it was Exit, Stage Right (there is no Stage Left for a Right-wing Republican) and time to let his followers fend for themselves. 

Twelve years later, Donald Trump would reach the same conclusion.