It’s often better to attend Donald Trump’s rallies as a civilian rather than as a journalist. Journalists are usually penned off from the action, unable to interact with the crowd except as the object of ritual jeers. For Trump’s rally Wednesday in Long Island, New York, however, I had no choice: My press request was denied on the grounds that I’d submitted it too late for a rally that had been announced the day before. To be on the safe side, I got to Grumman Studios, a film and TV production facility in the town of Bethpage, a little before 3 p.m. for a rally that started at 7 p.m. and found hundreds of people already shivering in line.

Thousands more joined the queue as the hours dragged on. Once the doors opened on the massive soundstage where Trump would speak, not everyone could fit inside; a great crowd pressed up against the bank of metal detectors, chanting, “Let us in!” The overflow was a mark of both slapdash logistical planning and local enthusiasm. Trump has recently had a rolling series of campaign disasters, culminating in his weak showing in Wisconsin on Tuesday, but he arrived in Long Island as a conquering hometown hero.

In line, his mostly male supporters were salivating at the thought of protesters. One feigned an effeminate, nasal voice and whined, “Black lives matter!” Another said to his friends, “I wanna hear him say, ‘Get em out of here!’ ” He got his wish but just barely; there were, for a Trump rally, relatively few interruptions by protesters and only two arrests. This was for the best. People were packed into the bare, cavernous space without chairs or aisles; it was hard to move and would have been catastrophic had fights broken out. (One teenage boy was taken to the onsite paramedics after he almost fainted.) The amped-up crowd was thick with bullnecked men in T-shirts or lapel pins marking them as off-duty cops and firemen. It was mostly but not entirely white. I met two exquisitely made-up, middle-age black women in matching fur coats and wide-brimmed red hats who believe that Trump is just the man to shepherd the U.S. through the end of days as prophesied in Revelation.

Trump was introduced by his daughter, Ivanka, who had given birth 10 days before. As evidence of her father’s greatness, she cited his 1986 renovation of Central Park’s ice-skating rink. Before Trump came on, two giant monitors showed a montage of great moments from his life while “ ’O sole mio” played on the sound system. The music abruptly changed to 2 Unlimited’s “Get Ready for This,” and Trump appeared. “It’s great to be home!” he said, exultant. The only new part of his stump speech centered on Ted Cruz’s infamous insult about “New York values,” which could haunt Cruz now that he’s in New York grubbing for votes.

“Do you remember during the debate when he started lecturing me on New York values, like we’re no good,” said Trump. He started talking about 9/11: “The worst attack in the history of the United States. We all lived through it. We all know people that died. And I’ve got this guy, standing over there, looking at me, talking about New York values with scorn on his face, with hatred, with hatred of New York. So folks, I think you can forget about him.”

The crowd broke into ecstatic chants of “Lyin’ Ted! Lyin’ Ted!” “He is Lyin’ Ted!” said Trump. “But you have to spell it right! It’s L-Y-I-N-apostrophe! Lyin’ Ted! The Bible held high, he puts it down, and then he lies.”

When it was over, thousands crowded onto a narrow pathway to make their way back to a staging area where poorly organized shuttle buses ferried passengers to parking lots and train stations. It was moving slowly, so the impatient climbed through a row of bushes to a narrow, unlighted dirt track. “We’re like Mexicans sneaking over the border!” someone said. “This is how the refugees get into Europe!” added someone else. “La migra! La migra!” shouted a third. Hearty laughs rang out.

When we emerged, a white man with manic bright eyes pressed a red photocopied flier into my hand. It recounted the dreams that self-described Christian prophets are having about Trump: “I then heard the Lord speak loudly in my dream ‘TRUMP SHALL LEAD THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA INTO TRIUMPH!!!’ ” For a moment, it did feel like last days.

Read more Slate coverage of the 2016 campaign.