'Jonestown Massacre' Fox News Clip: Rally Attendee Tom Hoyle Explains His Viral Answer at Trump's South Carolina Event

A short live interview on Fox News from President Donald Trump’s rally in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on Thursday, Oct. 29, has spread widely online after the man being interviewed compared the event to the 1978 Jonestown Massacre.

The man, identified as Tom Hoyle, later said he is not a Trump supporter and that he went to make a point after the campaign called his business, improvising the line on the spot, according to TV Insider and HuffPost. Both outlets cited his interview with Marisa Kabas of The Handbasket.

What happened in the Jonestown Massacre Fox News interview

Fox News correspondent Lucas Tomlinson pulled Hoyle aside before Trump’s speech and asked why he had come. As quoted by TV Insider, Hoyle replied: “Well, in the late seventies, I was a little too young to get involved and go to South America for the Jonestown Massacre, but this is as close as I’ll ever get. So, that’s why I’m here.”

“Wait, the Jonestown Massacre?” Tomlinson asked. “That’s right. Nothing like seeing a cult right up front, man,” Hoyle said.

Tomlinson laughed awkwardly and said, “So, maybe this is not a Trump supporter,” before moving on to another attendee, according to the reports. Clips of the exchange were widely shared on social media later that day.

Who is Tom Hoyle?

Hoyle co-owns MadPark Designs, a custom printing company in Charlotte, North Carolina, TV Insider reported. He said rally organizers had contacted his business by phone to invite them, which he said “broke the cardinal rule” of his company.

“We despise that,” he told The Handbasket, per HuffPost. He said the call “pushed me over the edge and I said, here’s my opportunity. Let’s go do something goofy.”

He said he signed up under his real name and number because he “didn’t want there to be any doubt that they invited me.” He told The Handbasket he has disliked Trump since the late 1980s and cited Trump’s response to the Central Park Five case, TV Insider reported. HuffPost reported that Hoyle said he was once a registered Republican and re-registered as an independent about 18 months ago.

Hoyle said his original plan was to heckle Trump, and that he came up with the Jonestown line “off the cuff” when the TV interview came up. He credited his timing to comedian Billy Crystal.

Was he removed from the rally?

According to Hoyle, yes. He said that shortly after the clip spread, Secret Service agents asked to speak with him and then walked him out of the venue, TV Insider and HuffPost reported. That account comes from Hoyle. The reports reviewed here did not include a comment from the Secret Service or the Trump campaign.

Why the Jonestown reference landed

The Jonestown Massacre took place in November 1978 in Guyana, South America. More than 900 members of the Peoples Temple, led by Jim Jones, died there. Calling a rally “a cult” is a familiar insult from Trump’s critics, and the clip spread because the line was delivered to an interviewer who had expected a supporter.

The Rock Hill event was one of Trump’s midterm campaign stops. Trump has since canceled planned weekend rallies in Kansas and Iowa ahead of Tuesday’s midterms.

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