Students say they interrupted Trump during Minneapolis rally to urge action on climate change

A protester at President Donald Trump's campaign rally briefly interrupted his speech Thursday night in Minneapolis.

Two college students are explaining why they choose to interject Thursday during President Donald Trump's rally in Minneapolis.

The two students, Emma Bassett and Kody Harrington, say they knew what they were doing but didn't; they just didn't know when they were going to speak up. But, the pair says their intention wasn't to cause problems but rather raise the alarm on the threat of climate change.

Bassett and Harrington say they didn't know if they would have enough time for the president to hear them and respond. But, they got both.

"Go home to mommy,” Trump told the students. "Mommy said, I saw you on television tonight. I love Trump; don’t you ever do that again! Yes, mommy."

Those were the final words Bassett and Harrington heard from the president inside Target Center on Thursday night. Moments before, they began shouting from their seats, chanting "climate justice now!"

Emma Bassett and Kody Harrington spoke with FOX 9 a day after the Trump rally.

"None of the three of us take interrupting the president lightly," said Bassett. "It’s the fact that we prioritized this issue and the fact that feel that it is so important and we feel that it was necessary to bring the attention to it.”

Bassett and Harrington, two of the three Macalester College students escorted out for their protest, stood up about one hour into the president's speech. It's a protest they decided to take inside so others could hear what they had to say.

"I feel that the issue of climate change needs to reach those that feel disengaged with it," explained Bassett. "I feel that if I was surrounded in an echo chamber of similar voices, then I wouldn’t have the same effect."

The effect it had was expected by Basset and Harrington. But, the response from the president was somewhat of a surprise.

President Trump spoke for more than an hour-and-a-half, as part of an effort to win Minnesota in 2020.

"Even though his response didn’t address climate change directly, it still shows that he heard us," said Harrington.

The pair says that was their goal from the very beginning. Both Bassett and Harrington say they didn't want to do anything to really disrupt the rally and get arrested; they just wanted to be heard.

After Trump's rally, local Republicans issued a statement praising the president's speech.

"Tonight was an incredible display of just how much Minnesota supports President Donald Trump," party leaders wrote. "Minnesotans waited for hours, and some even days, for the opportunity to hear from their President who has spent his first term fulfilling campaign promises and working on behalf of Minnesota families."