Trump campaign stopping in Macon on Monday night

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump is coming to Macon on Monday night.

Trump is set to speak at the Macon Coliseum during a campaign rally that begins at 7:30 p.m., said Brandon Phillips, the Georgia director for the Trump campaign. Doors will open at 5 p.m.

The event will be free to attend -- it will cost $5 to park -- but those who want to go must have a ticket, Phillips said. You can get a ticket online at: bit.ly/1T0VAT0.

The event will last about an hour, until 8:30 p.m. or so, Phillips said, "but I've seen him speak in Iowa for 90 minutes."

Secret Service agents will provide security, screening visitors and checking handbags. Those who plan to attend "should use a little common sense" on what they bring to the event and should arrive early, Phillips said.

Trump's campaign leaders and supporters in Georgia received an email Monday saying that Trump planned to come to the state soon. He has been campaigning in Florida recently.

One Middle Georgia backer said he'll be among those on hand Monday night, and he may have members of his family in tow.

Macon resident Dan Phillips attended a Trump rally in Norcross last month.

"I'm what you call a paleoconservative," he said.

For Phillips, the main issues in the presidential race are candidates' stances on immigration policy, international trade dealings and whether they support nonintervention in foreign policy.

The 47-year-old said he agrees with Trump on his immigration and trade stances but said he has "some quibbles" with Trump's views on foreign policy. Nonintervention acknowledges the principle of noninterference in the internal affairs of sovereign states.

Phillips started a Middle Georgia for Donald Trump Facebook page that has drawn 64 "likes" so far, and he has a red baseball cap bearing the logo Make America Great Again just like Trump has sported at rallies.

For those who follow politics, Macon would seem to be a contrary destination for a Republican presidential hopeful.

Nearly 60 percent of Bibb County's registered voters cast ballots for Barack Obama in the 2012 election. Mitt Romney drew just under 40 percent. Statewide, voters gave Romney more than 53 percent of the vote, to about 45 percent for Obama.

In Houston County, meanwhile, Romney drew nearly 60 percent of the ballots, and GOP tallies were even better in Monroe County, with about 68 percent for Romney, and in Jones County, where about 64 percent of men and women voted for Romney.

Trump, who has been leading GOP polls for months, has drawn criticism in recent days for comments he made at other campaign stops. Over the weekend, he said he saw "thousands and thousands" of people cheering the Sept. 11 attacks across the Hudson River in New Jersey, but officials there said there's no evidence that ever happened.

He also said the U.S. should bring back more aggressive interrogation techniques on terrorism suspects, including waterboarding, which simulates drowning.

The presidential preference primary is March 1. The deadline to register to vote in it is Feb. 1.

To contact writer Oby Brown, call 744-4396 or find him on Twitter@obybrownGA.

This story was originally published November 24, 2015 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Trump campaign stopping in Macon on Monday night ."