WACO, Texas — Thousands of Donald Trump’s most devoted fans gathered for a rally at Waco Regional Airport Saturday, hoping to lift the scandal-plagued and increasingly isolated candidate back to the top of the Republican Party and into the presidency.

The Trump campaign has billed the appearance in Waco as the first official rally of the former president’s third White House bid.

It’s a favorable location for Trump. Back in the 2020 election, he trounced Democratic rival Joe Biden by more than 23 percentage points in McLennan County, which includes Waco. And the symbolism of appearing in the city, the site of the federal government’s 1993 siege on the gun-hoarding Branch Davidian religious group that left scores of people dead, jibes with Trump’s fierce anti-establishment streak.

Waving banners reading “Take America Back” and sporting American-flag striped clothes, supporters dismissed the long string of allegations threatening to land Trump in legal trouble.

Texas native Manuel Flores flew home from California to attend the rally with his family.

“It’s an amazing crowd,” Flores told HuffPost. “Aside from all the controversy going on with Donald Trump, I’m glad that we have a really good energy going on here… Hopefully, this rally comes to fruition, and we get a good president again.”

But Trump faces a long battle to rekindle the devotion he once enjoyed in Texas, as he stumbles through several high-profile investigations while trying to fight his way through a tough primary.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office is conducting a grand jury probe into hush-money payments to an adult film star that Trump said will soon end in an indictment.

The former president also faces a federal probe into his handling of classified documents at his Florida home, an investigation into his role in the riot at the U.S. Capitol in 2021, a criminal inquiry in Georgia for allegedly interfering with the 2020 presidential election, and a civil lawsuit that could result in the revocation of his right to do business in New York.

However, none of that diminished Trump’s stature in the eyes of his most enthusiastic supporters.

“If they had some serious charges, it might change my mind,” said Craig Cantrell, who drove in with his wife from nearby Rockdale.

“They’ve been after this poor man for one thing after the other,” Austin resident Colleen Ford told HuffPost. “Do I think he’s polarizing? Yes. And he is kind of an asshole, the way he talks to people. But if I’m going to hire a supervisor, I’m not going to do it based on their personality… I’m going to pick the best person for the job.”

Several said the looming threat of criminal charges only strengthened their resolve to send him back to the White House.

“It makes you want to vote for him more,” Scott Pierce, 50, told HuffPost. “[Democrats] don’t want him to run because they’re scared he’ll win.”

Few Texas politicians of stature planned to attend the rally, with no members of the state’s congressional delegation confirming attendance as of Thursday, according to Insider.

That’s partly because Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — already Trump’s most formidable primary challenger in the 2024 presidential race, even though he hasn’t officially declared his candidacy — is now currying favor with Texas conservatives.

The few polls conducted in recent months show DeSantis running neck and neck with Trump. Meanwhile, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) has endorsed DeSantis in the primary. And the Florida governor’s signature culture war agenda has served as a model for Republicans in the Texas Capitol.