Attendees were prohibited from bringing toasters to Trump rallies.
On Aug. 22, 2021, as former U.S. President Donald Trump held a rally in Alabama, a photograph started circulating on social media that supposedly showed a list of prohibited items: This is a genuine list of items prohibited from Trump rallies. The majority of the items come from a list of prohibited objects maintained by the U.S. Secret Service. While the majority of the items listed above were culled from that Secret Service list, the above-displayed list also prohibits several additional items, such as alcohol, tripods, and appliances or toasters. The above-displayed list appears to be relatively standard for Trump rallies. We found guidelines for several of Trump's previous rallies that also prohibited these items. Before a rally at Eerie National Airport in October 2020, for example, the local news outlet YourErie.com reported that the following items were prohibited at the event: Prohibited Items List • Aerosols • Alcoholic beverages • Backpacks, bags, roller bags, suitcases bags exceeding size restrictions (12'x14'x5') • Balloons • Balls • Banners, signs, placards • Chairs • Coolers • Drones and other unmanned aircraft systems • Explosives of any kind (including fireworks) • Glass, thermal and metal containers • Laser lights and laser pointers • E-Cigarrettes and Vaping Devices • Mace and/or pepper spray • Noisemakers, such as air horns, whistles, drums, bullhorns, etc. • Packages • Poles, sticks and selfie sticks • Spray containers • Structures • Supports for signs/placards • Tripods • Umbrellas • Appliances (i.e. Toasters) • And any other items that may pose a threat to the security of the event as determined by and at the discretion of the security screeners. The Sheriff's Department in Cullman County, where the August 2021 Trump rally was held, told us that the prohibited items list was put together by the Secret Service and the event organizers. As the Secret Service's list of prohibited items does not include appliances, it seems reasonable that this item was added by the Trump team. It should be noted, however, that while the idea that 'Trump bans toasters' may sound funny, there could be a good reason for prohibiting appliances. One possible reason is that some appliances, such as pressure cookers, have been used to make homemade bombs. We reached out to the Secret Service, Trump's Save America Pac, and rally host York Family Farms for more information, and we will update this article accordingly if we hear back. While there may be a good reason to prohibit appliances, we viewed the prohibited items list for a few large events held for Trump's predecessor, former President Barack Obama, and found no mention of toasters. 
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