DAVID GREENE, HOST:
Burlington, Vt., is Bernie Sanders' home. He was mayor there. But another presidential candidate came through town last night, and things got pretty raucous. It was Donald Trump. Vermont Public Radio's Peter Hirschfeld was there.
PETER HIRSCHFELD, BYLINE: It was a political three-ring circus that came to town last night. The Trump campaign handed out 20,000 tickets for an event space that had just 1,400 seats. Supporters lined up hours ahead of time to get in.
JIM BILLADO: I think he's a very intelligent guy. And running a country's like running a business, and he knows how to run a business.
HIRSCHFELD: Jim Billado owns a commercial roofing business and was wearing work boots, jeans, a flannel shirt and a well-worn green John Deere cap as he waited for Trump to speak.
BILLADO: This state, they're taxing us right out of this state. It's crazy, you know?
HIRSCHFELD: But why did Trump even stop in deep-blue Vermont? One reason may be that voters here will send 16 delegates to the Republican National Convention in the Super Tuesday primaries on March 1. And it's a state that other Republican candidates have barely paid attention to.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Hey, hey, ho, ho, Donald Trump has got to go.
HIRSCHFELD: In a snow-covered park not far from where Billado was standing, local Albert Petrarca held anti-Trump signs in his hands.
ALBERT PETRARCA: Here's a man who represents a rising racist and fascist movement across the country. And it's the responsibility, in my opinion, of citizens to rise up and meet that challenge.
HIRSCHFELD: To weed out protesters, the Trump campaign asked everyone entering the theater to pledge support to the billionaire TV star and businessman.
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DONALD TRUMP: Thank you, everybody. Thank you.
HIRSCHFELD: Inside, the scene was rowdy.
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TRUMP: Beautiful. We're in Vermont. That air is so nice and clean. I'm breathing so much of that air.
HIRSCHFELD: While Vermont may be 2,000 miles from Mexico, the crowd went wild when Trump repeated his vow to build a wall on the southern border.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TRUMP: And who's going to pay for the wall?
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Mexico.
TRUMP: Who's going to pay for the wall?
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Mexico.
TRUMP: Who's going to pay for the wall?
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Mexico.
TRUMP: I've never done that before. That's actually cute.
HIRSCHFELD: Despite the campaign's best efforts, dozens of protesters made it past security. Each time, Trump took pleasure in instructing the local police to usher them out.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TRUMP: Yeah, don't give him his coat. Don't give him his coat. Keep his coat. Confiscate his coat. You know, it's about 10 degrees below zero outside.
HIRSCHFELD: Throughout the speech, Trump took shots at pretty much every other politician of note, including other Republican candidates, President Obama, Hillary Clinton and Burlington resident Bernie Sanders.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TRUMP: Oh, would I love to run against Bernie. I would love - that would be a dream come true.
HIRSCHFELD: In a statement afterwards, Sanders said he and Trump finally agree on something - they should run against each other. Sanders said it would be an extraordinary campaign if the two of them square off in the general election. For NPR News, I'm Peter Hirschfeld in Burlington, Vt.