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John Homan: Can Trump make newspapers great again?

Ever since it was announced last weekend that President Donald Trump was going to make a campaign stop in Murphysboro this coming Saturday on behalf of congressman Mike Bost, my heart started racing.

I wondered aloud, could Trump really make newspapers great again? He makes everything else great, or so he says. So, why not the fourth estate?

Ah, I know it's a long shot, but a guy can dream, can't he?

Shoot, I'd don a red hat quicker than you can say Bob Woodward if somehow El Presidente can convince the 40-and-under crowd that reading the newspaper is not only a great educational tool, but cooler than vaping.

And I will be the Don's bestest buddy in the whole wide world, stand behind him at campaign rallies, and hold my "Media are the Enemy" sign high if he will simply push his enormous ego to the side once in a while and lead this country in a civil, respectful of others manner. Unite us and not divide us more than we already are.

Doing that screams presidential to me.

Trump, Part 2

If I have heard it once, I have heard it a half dozen times this week. Why is President Donald Trump's campaign rally at the Southern Illinois Airport instead of the SIU Arena? After all, the Arena seats over 8,000 and several hundred more seats can be added on the gym floor.

So, I posed the question to Southern Illinois University spokeswoman Rae Morrow Goldsmith Monday: Did President Donald Trump or congressman Bost's campaign teams ever request the SIU Arena as a campaign rally site?

Goldsmith said the Trump team had indeed contacted the athletic department and inquired about renting the facility, but was told there was a "scheduling conflict."

I then asked what the conflict was and she replied, "a women's basketball game."

As it turns out, the SIU women's basketball team is scheduled to play an exhibition game at home against McKendree University Friday night.

I then asked Goldsmith if the exhibition game (glorified practice) could have been rescheduled or moved to another site to accommodate the President. She said she didn't really have anything to add beyond noting that "the location decision was the campaign's and the SIU Arena was available the day of the rally."

The decision was then made by Trump's team to pick Southern Illinois Airport (Hangar 6 to be specific) as its Plan B campaign rally point. But the reporter in me wants to know ... was the game really the reason the SIU Arena wasn't available?

My guess is no.

Trump's stance on hot-button issues like immigration, gay rights, women's rights and human rights in general might be a bit too standoffish for a university crowd. Perhaps the powers at be at SIU foresaw fights breaking out between white supremacists who support Trump and the Black Lives Matter crowd.

Who knows?

Come to think of it, maybe Hangar No. 6 at the Southern Illinois Airport makes more sense to hold a campaign rally, after all.