--- title: Donald Trump Asks People To Pledge Support At Vermont Rally description: Donald Trump held a rally in Burlington and asked people to pledge their support for his campaign before being let inside the event. canonical: https://time.com/4172558/donald-trump-bernie-sanders-burlington/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-08T12:42:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T13:53:52.263Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Asks People To Pledge Support At Vermont Rally og:description: Donald Trump held a rally in Burlington and asked people to pledge their support for his campaign before being let inside the event. og:url: https://time.com/4172558/donald-trump-bernie-sanders-burlington/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta254de8548608926/69887823f887dc4465e940c0/donald-trump-rally-vermont-supporters.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Supporters of U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump jeer at protesters during a campaign rally in Burlington, Vermont og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Asks People To Pledge Support At Vermont Rally twitter:description: Donald Trump held a rally in Burlington and asked people to pledge their support for his campaign before being let inside the event. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta254de8548608926/69887823f887dc4465e940c0/donald-trump-rally-vermont-supporters.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Asks People To Pledge Support Before Entering VT Rally  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 8, 2016 12:42 PM UTC  Supporters of U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump jeer at protesters during a campaign rally in Burlington, Vt. on Jan. 7, 2016. Supporters of U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump jeer at protesters during a campaign rally in Burlington, Vt. on Jan. 7, 2016.Erin Siegal—Reuters  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 8, 2016 12:42 PM UTC Donald Trump held a rally in Burlington, Vermont last night and asked people to pledge their support for his campaign before being let inside the event. “We have more than 20,000 people that showed up for 1,400 spots. I’m taking care of my people, not people who don’t want to vote for me or are undecided,” Trump said in a statement, [NBC reports](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/despite-screening-protesters-disrupt-trump-s-vermont-rally-n492536). “They are loyal to me and I am loyal to them.” NBC said some people who made it through security said they had been asked if they supported Trump. Those who said yes were allowed in; those who said no were turned away. Some protesters still made it inside to interrupt the rally, with Trump joking that his staff should “confiscate the coats” before kicking them out into the Vermont winter. Trump knew Burlington would be ripe with protest potential, as Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders was a beloved mayor of the town and senator from the state. “I welcome Mr. Trump to Vermont,” Sanders said in a statement before the rally. “I hope his presence here will help him better understand Vermont values – social and economic justice, tolerance, respect for all people and the environment.” Still, Sanders took a more combative tone on Twitter, with a series of tweets during the rally aimed against the Republican frontrunner: > [](https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/685306041618317312) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4172558/donald-trump-bernie-sanders-burlington/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4172558/donald-trump-bernie-sanders-burlington/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Asks People To Pledge Support Before Entering VT Rally","datePublished":"2016-01-08T12:42:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:53:52.263Z","description":"\"I'm taking care of my people, not people who don't want to vote for me or are undecided\"","url":"https://time.com/4172558/donald-trump-bernie-sanders-burlington/","keywords":["Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta254de8548608926/69887823f887dc4465e940c0/donald-trump-rally-vermont-supporters.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta254de8548608926/69887823f887dc4465e940c0/donald-trump-rally-vermont-supporters.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Supporters of U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump jeer at protesters during a campaign rally in Burlington, Vermont","caption":"Supporters of U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump jeer at protesters during a campaign rally in Burlington, Vt. on Jan. 7, 2016.","creditText":"Erin Siegal—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4172558/donald-trump-bernie-sanders-burlington/","name":"Donald Trump Asks People To Pledge Support Before Entering VT Rally"}}]}] ```