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Trump rallies in Mesa, expected more criticism

Posted at 5:46 PM, Dec 16, 2015
and last updated 2015-12-16 19:46:48-05

Presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke Wednesday in Mesa to a crowd of supporters and protesters.

The event began at noon at International Air Response at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. He made a dramatic entrance in his private plane at a rally at the airport.  

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio introduced the presidential candidate along with other supporters at the event.

Last week Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said he hopes Trump "does not bring his hateful message of division and intolerance back to Phoenix" and that his "increasingly overt racism is in complete contrast to our values as a city."

At Wednesday's event, Trump shrugged off the barbs he received in Tuesday night's debate, saying he was prepared for more criticism as the GOP front-runner.

It was a rebuke to Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, who jabbed Trump the most during the two-hour debate. During the last GOP matchup of the year, Bush told Trump that he couldn't "insult" his way to the presidency and called him a "chaos candidate." The other presidential hopefuls onstage mostly bickered among themselves.

Arpaio credited Trump with raising immigration matters to the forefront of the presidential race.

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For a full recap of Donald Trump's run at the 2016 presidential race, scroll through the interactive timeline below.