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This was Giuliani’s second visit to The Villages, a sprawling planned community in the exurbs of central Florida. He fondly recalled how at his last appearance, held outdoors, an eagle flew overhead.

“I want the eagle back,” he said, “I thought it was a great omen.”

But this event was held indoors — and no one seemed to regret it.

Mr. Giuliani again referred to the eagle when talking about how he wants to “take the top off the roof, so that people can look way up in the sky, at that eagle, and kind of dream as soaring as far as they can go.”

But throughout Mr. Giuliani’s speech, the sound of rain pounding on the roof and thunder led people to worriedly look at the ceiling.