EXCLUSIVE: The Trump Unity Bridge, Its Creator and the Personal Connection to the President

 

MANSFIELD, Ohio – Robert Cortis drove from his home in Michigan to Mansfield Friday night for the October 12 Trump for America Party at Lew’s Tavern. Friday was the VIP event, and Cortis had come early to share the Trump Unity Bridge and set out his various Trump 2020 wares for event attendees to purchase. And he had a personal story to tell The Ohio Star about the bridge’s origins and its connection to Donald Trump.

The Trump Unity Bridge is an actual footbridge with wheels. Originally it was a metal bridge constructed by Cortis’ father, located on Robert Cortis’ property.

When asked why he built it, Cortis first shared how he lost the bridge entirely – it was stolen in December 2014.

The 40-ft long, 5,000 pound bridge made international headlines. Cortis was preparing to move it following a divorce where his wife got the house and he kept the bridge. Neighbors saw the bridge being moved, but thought the movers were sent by Cortis, so they didn’t give it a second thought.

Cortis informed the police, then when straight to social media. “Tips came into me and the police and within twenty-four hours, the tips led us to where it was,” he said. Although Cortis discovered who had stolen it, he chose not to pursue legal action.

“I got it back and I put it in my restaurant to be used as a ‘unity bridge’ for holy matrimony, for wedding ceremonies,” Cortis explained. Things became complicated when the city prohibited the bridge to be located inside the restaurant or even within the town, so he moved it 100 feet outside the city limits onto his neighbor’s property.

The neighbor was a welder. He added axels onto the base and then added wheels. Cortis figured a mobile bridge was safe from the city’s harassing regulations, and so far he has been correct.

The Ohio Star circled back to the question, “Why did you build it for President Trump?”

Cortis enthusiastically told the story of Donald Trump’s connection to the bridge.

“My dad died in 2000 and he gave me a bracelet I treasured. I lost it on a business trip in Las Vegas. Hotel security said someone found it,” he began. “They said ‘I’ll give them [the person who found it] your number and they’ll call you,’ so about an hour later, a man called me.”

Cortis described the bracelet to the caller and agreed to meet the man at a restaurant at 9:00 pm. “When I got there, I found out the man who found my bracelet was Donald Trump.”

Not only did Trump find the bracelet, after dinner, hours after the Trumps had left and the Cortis’ and their friends had eaten and had several bottles of champaign, Robert Cortis went to pay the bill. Trump had taken care of that too.

The meeting of Trump and Cortis was years before Donald Trump ran for President, but Robert Cortis never forgot the kindness and generosity of Donald J. Trump.

“Character, integrity, pride and patriotism,” Cortis proclaimed were the reasons he was supporting the President. But the idea for the Trump Unity Bridge actually came from the Pope.

“The Pope said, ‘Trump needs to be building bridges, not walls.’ So I woke up one day and said, ‘The Pope’s telling me, so I’m going to make my unity bridge Trump’s Unity Bridge’.”

Colby, Cortis’ son who was 16 at the time, helped him turn the marriage foot         bridge into a float for the man Cortis was determined would be President. They began their work in May 2016 and finished it that August. Cortis has been traveling with the Trump-mobile and pulling the Trump Unity Bridge ever since.

“It was certified in Michigan and inspected by Officer Love, so there’s a lot of Love went into this float. Love from all over the country as well,” Cortis claimed, noting how much support his fellow Americans have provided during his travels.

He was asked, “How long will you do this?”

“I will do this as long as there’s a Trump running for office or a Trump-agenda President, I’ll do it,” said Cortis. “What I work for and what the President works for are the people. We’re working for the American people and not ‘the swamp’.”

And with that, the entrepreneur went back to his business, ordering shirts based upon one of the President’s comments from his Minnesota rally the night before, “Where’s Hunter?”

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Beth Lear is a reporter at The Ohio Star.  Follow Beth on Twitter.  Email tips to [email protected].

 

 

 

 

 

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