(Continued from The Day Before it all Fell Apart: My Afternoon with Donald Trump. Part 1)

There are several false alarms. Premature reports of the messiah's arrival. A couple of audience members begin chanting "Trump, Trump, Trump." The whole auditorium joins in. Everyone rises to their feet and focuses their gazes on the entrance next to the stage. The crowd sits down again when they realize that the Donald still hasn't arrived. This chain of events transpires several times over the next hour. The same three or four songs play over the venue's sound system over and over again. The audience breaks into several mini-chants of "Lock her up! Lock her up!"

An announcement comes in over the loud speaker. The message advises the spectator's to refrain from interruption or protest during Trump's speech. The announcement then instructs the Trump supporters to avoid any violent behavior towards protesters and to instead drown out the protester's voice by chanting "Trump, Trump, Trump."

Forty-five minutes after Trump was originally scheduled to speak, the doors to the auditorium open again. Dozens of yuppies wearing backpacks or holding briefcases scurry into the makeshift press box. An excited murmur flows through the crowd as people realize that Trump's traveling press team is in the building. Then the crowd remembers that they hate the media and the elation turns to vitriol. "Fuck the Media" shouts a morbidly overweight man sitting behind me. Catcalls and insults reign down at the press team from across the auditorium.

Donald Trump and Mike Pence finally enter the venue an hour late. The Vice-Presidential candidate speaks first. The audience listens politely, but must of the crowd desperately craves the main course, especially after such a long wait. Pence gives his token five-minute stump speech. He brags about his own accomplishments as governor of Indiana and forcefully endorses Trump.

The venue shakes as King Trump ascends to the stage. He embraces his jovial eunuch Pence and approaches the mic. Like most of his populist speeches to large audiences, Trump's address is disorganized and unscripted. He brags about his capacity as a "dealmaker," trashes the "stupid politicians," and freely switches between completely unrelated topics.

This isn't my first time seeing Trump speak live. I saw him speak in Washington DC a few months ago. He was funny, charismatic and spoke in a very hypnotic manner, enthralling an audience that wasn't initially sympathetic to him. Today he seems lethargic. He is definitely off his "A-Game." I suspect this apparent fatigue is a combination of his merciless schedule and the brutal weather. He started the day in Florida, jetted over to join us in Scranton, and has another event tonight in Toledo,Ohio. The normally upbeat Trump sighs several times and seems more fidgety than usual. Towards the end of his speech he even concedes that "It's really hot in here." An almost unimaginable admission for a candidate who consistently brags about his "huge" and well-organized events.

The crowd loves their messenger. They eat up every world of Trump's schtik. Trump speaks for over an hour. He raves about the audience's grievances using bold catchphrases. He vows to bring jobs back from Mexico and China. He promises to renegotiate trade deals. He pledges to reopen coal mines that closed fifty years ago. He points to the media box and describes the press as "horrible" and "dishonest." The crowd boos the reporters and directs insults and slurs toward the media box. Most of the journalists sit stoically and react to the angry mob with a surprising lack of emotion. Just another day on the road with Trump.

He simplifies the country's pressing economic issues. If only he were in power, it would all be different. He and his "ruthless" negotiators from the business world would strike the "best deals" for this country. It would all be so easy. He even talks the audience through an imaginary phone call with the CEO of Carrier Airconditioning, where he as president threatens to hit the company with a huge tariff if they manufacture their AC Units in Mexico.

Trump portrays the United States as a dangerous country in a tumultuous time. He paints the Obama administration as unsympathetic to the plight of our police and our military. On this day, the Donald tones down a lot of the racially-charged rhetoric that alienates so many. He doesn't speak about the Mexican government sending rapists. He talks instead about remittances. I wonder if he has finally turned the corner and will now modify his campaign for the general electorate.

As a whole, Trump's hour-long speech is objectively nonsense. Taken at face value his words are nothing less than the disorganized ravings of a madman. But, his remarks resonate deeply with the audience. He talks about them. He speaks for them. He highlights their struggles in a simple and passionate way that they can understand. Most important of all he publically reinforces many of their "politically incorrect" views.

I speak to a member of Trump's traveling press team outside the auditorium. The journalist is in his early 30's and works for a major national news station. He flies with Donald Trump around the country and after many months on the job still has no personal relationship with the candidate. "He knows my name. That's it" the reporter tells me. This journalist travels all over the country and sits through Trump's bravado and attacks towards the media. Yet he feels no emotion. "It's a job" he says with a tired, deadpan look on his face.

Perhaps that is the slimiest part. Candidates travel with the press in every major election. Some media members inevitably disagree with a politician's platform and some politicians dislike the media's coverage. However, most candidates treat the people who cover them, and especially those who travel with them on a day to day basis with some degree of civility. Trump profits politically by trashing the press. Many politicians do. But there is something deeply disconcerting about a candidate who acts so callously in private.

A few dozen die hard Trump supporters and handful of curious onlookers stand at an intersection about an hour after the speech. They wait patiently for Trump and his motorcade to pass them on his way out of town. Among them is a woman with her teenage daughter. The girl is probably around 15 years old and still wears braces. The teenager collects Trump-themed pins on her shirt and has amassed six or seven different slogans. Some of the memorabilia is quite vulgar including several pins that contain both the words "Hillary" and "Bitch". Her favorite pin reads "Hot Girls for Trump!" She holds it proudly in the palm of her hand. Her mom looks on smiling as her daughter flirts with two gawky teenage boys with strong Jersey Accents. The conversation between the teens is apolitical and extremely awkward, very reminiscent of many of my teenage dialogues.

Several black cars pass. Everybody maneuvers their camera phones in the appropriate position. Trump presses his hand against the glass window of his vehicle and waves to the crowd. "There he is!" screams a man standing next to me with his elderly father. The motorcade speeds forward and the king leaves Scranton.

Many Americans detest politics. They hate the disingenuous nature of the candidates. They hate the veiled language and the half-truths. They struggle to resonate on an emotional level with their political leaders. Conversely, many Americans love reality TV. They love the raw emotion of the cast. They love the brutal honesty. Even though most people understand on some level that "unscripted" is rarely truly "unscripted", they can still relate to and even live vicariously through the characters.

Donald Trump understands reality TV on a deeper level than anyone who has ever run before him. He understands that many Americans crave an "honest" politician, even if they understand on some level that he is rarely truly "honest."

After the rally in Scranton ends, the spectators go home to their boring lives in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. The teenaged "Hot Girl for Trump" turns on VH1. Other members of the crowd turn on TLC, or A&E. The awkward teenage boys watch WWE, or whatever awkward teenage weirdos from Jersey watch. Others simply watch panelists and guests yell at each other on Fox News.

Trump gives his fans a chance to be part of his show. At least for a few hours on a Wednesday afternoon, in a sweltering auditorium in Scranton. Whether Trump wins or loses the election, they are forever grateful.