Why These Americans From 14 States Came to Washington for Trump’s Inauguration
Josh Siegel / Rachel del Guidice / Caleb Ecarma /
They came by the thousands from all over America to support the man they said can turn around economic, social, and other ills as the nation’s 45th president.
The Daily Signal visited the National Mall, where an inaugural concert was held Thursday night, and the Capitol grounds, where Donald Trump was sworn in at noon Friday, to find out why folks traveled far from their home states to celebrate this Inauguration Day.
Wisconsin
One inaugural visitor, Sara Arnold, said she has lived successfully.
“You know what? I’ve been working. I am a highly paid physician—a radiologist. It’s the top of the pecking order,” said Arnold, 59, now retired.
But Arnold, of Elm Grove, Wisconsin, said she wants people to know she is also a regular person who wants affordable health care, secure borders, and manufacturing jobs for her home state—“what used to be the incredible industrial machine of the country.”
Arnold, a registered independent who was with her son, Dieter Brummund, 27, said she believes political partisanship has helped block others less fortunate than her from reaching the American dream.
Trump fan Sara Arnold (right), wanted me to know, "aren't we like average citizens or what?" #InaugurationDay pic.twitter.com/vijcDk5p31
— Joshua Siegel (@SiegelScribe) January 20, 2017
Coming into election season, she sought a uniter and thought she found it in Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who is now Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
When Carson stumbled in the polls, she turned to Trump, looking past his “divisive” rhetoric and seeing someone who spoke simply about issues that concern her.
“With Trump, I became invested in this election,” Arnold said. “I had never done that before.”
Arnold soon donated to Trump’s campaign and attended three of his rallies, and learned not to take many of what she called his more radical policies literally.
“As far as I am concerned, we need to have a wall that’s 6 feet wide, that’s 3 feet wide, that’s 1 inch wide,” Arnold said. “You know what, I am not worried about the details. Let’s get effective control of the borders. I totally trust him. Whatever the heck he is doing, he is doing it for the right reasons. I am not worried about it.”
Michigan
Robert Simpson traveled to Washington with his sister, Maggie Hopper, for the #Inauguration. pic.twitter.com/NtJ650Izos
— Rachel del Guidice (@LRacheldG) January 20, 2017
Robert Simpson, 65, is a retiree from Armada, Michigan. Simpson said he traveled to Washington with his sister, Maggie Hopper, a nurse who is also from Michigan.
“I came out to the inauguration because I think it will take many people to make America great again,” Simpson said.
“As long as [Trump] guides the democratic process, I will be happy,” he said, because the U.S. government is “like a ship at sea” that should always be “going toward democracy.”
Minnesota
Marin Johnson drove from Duluth, Minnesota, to experience the inauguration.
“I believe in Trump and I want to see him repeal Obamacare,” Johnson said. “I’m the director of a long-term health care center, and I see how the changes in Obamacare have affected the ability for my staff to have health insurance, good health insurance.”
“We know a few people in [Duluth] who can’t get health insurance now because of Obamacare.”
WATCH: Trump Supporters in Their Own Words
Indiana
Mary Sue Sorrell, from Indiana, with her husband, Gary, came to the #Inauguration to celebrate a dream come true. pic.twitter.com/yae9WuWkLO
— Rachel del Guidice (@LRacheldG) January 20, 2017
Mary Sue Sorrell, 72, said she traveled from Indianapolis, Indiana, with her husband, Gary, to celebrate a dream come true—literally.
“Back in June, I had a dream that Trump would win, 60-40,” Mary Sue Sorrell said. “I only told my daughter, my husband, and a friend.”
She said it was amazing how close the actual election outcome was to her dream.
Gary Sorrell said all of the policy issues hanging in the balance during the 2016 election spurred the couple to vote for Trump.
“All of the issues, jobs, the economy, all the way down, are why we voted for Donald Trump,” he said.
Virginia
Daniel Christopher Roth, 17, calls politicians "cowards," but he aspires to be one. He likes Trump's "confidence." pic.twitter.com/pmVUNnadZ5
— Joshua Siegel (@SiegelScribe) January 20, 2017
Daniel Christopher Roth, 17, a high school student from Manassas, Virginia, said he aspires to public service someday, even though he considers politicians to be “cowards.”
Roth, too young to vote in the 2016 election, said he wants to be a different kind of politician, in the mold of his model, Trump.
“This is my first inauguration and I am here to support what I hope to be the best president on earth in the best country on earth,” Roth said, adding:
You need confidence in this country. That’s what built it, and that’s what will continue to make it be the best country on earth. Trump is bringing a outside-of-Washington style. I like his very roughness and the whole thing. He has a spine, which is a beautiful thing to see.
Roth said he doesn’t support Trump for any particular policy reason, although he has lofty expectations.
“I want us to efficiently decimate the terror regime of ISIS,” he said.
Iowa
Jeff Weinbruch, with his daughters Michaela and Gabriela, is a lifelong Democrat who came out to support Trump pic.twitter.com/gbOreSYgCC
— Joshua Siegel (@SiegelScribe) January 20, 2017
This was the third inauguration that Jeff Weinbruch, of Bettendorf, Iowa, attended. His first was Bill Clinton’s first one, then Barack Obama’s first one.
Weinbruch, a lifelong Democrat, said he has had enough of his party. He brought along his two youngest daughters to witness this official change of allegiance.
“I would say to my fellow Democrats that Trump is our president and we need to get behind and support him for the benefit of our country,” Weinbruch, 63, said. “As I tell my daughters every day, my Democratic friends want to blockade, but we need to move forward.”
Weinbruch, a Marine veteran who is Jewish, said he is ready to give Republicans a chance. Democrats, he said, were not appropriately handling the two issues he cares about most: relations with Israel and commanding the military.
“Clinton and Obama, they tried their best and now it’s time to let someone else try their best,” Weinbruch said.
Ohio
Brian Casserly with his son, Joseph, travelled from Ohio to attend the #Inauguration. pic.twitter.com/HKjui5XEBj
— Rachel del Guidice (@LRacheldG) January 20, 2017
Brian Casserly, 55, traveled from Columbus, Ohio, with his 9-year-old son, Joseph.
“I had not been to D.C. since I was Joseph’s age,” Casserly said, adding that social issues were a deciding factor for him in the presidential election.
“The main thing that made me vote for Donald Trump was something Joseph said when he came home from school one day,” Casserly said. “He said that if Hillary got elected, all of the girls would be able to use the boy’s restroom.”
Casserly said he also wanted to protect and advance the pro-life perspective.
“I am pro-life and pro-Israel and support the defunding of Planned Parenthood,” he said. “It is obvious what is going on there. It is not just about women’s health, it is about religious liberty too. They should have the freedom to [decline] to participate in something.”
Texas
Lucy and Eli Gonzalez live on the Texas border and back immigration reform. They hope Trump can "bring back jobs" pic.twitter.com/jnGCFdAUVM
— Joshua Siegel (@SiegelScribe) January 20, 2017
Eli and Lucy Gonzalez are a married couple of Mexican descent who were born in the United States. They live in Harlingen, Texas, a city on the border with Mexico, where some of their friends and family reside illegally—a status they are sympathetic to.
The Gonzalezes said they support a path to citizenship for those already living in the country illegally. But as personally as they view the issue of immigration, it’s not what defined how they voted in 2016, or any year.
“We have nothing against the illegals,” Eli Gonzalez, 40, said. “Some friends we know are illegals, family members are illegals, but you know, immigration wasn’t the reason we voted for Trump. His was a tough policy, but it didn’t bother us.”
They said their support for Trump is not something they feel comfortable speaking about openly at home.
Yet coming to Washington for their first inauguration inspired the couple to open up, to describe how they say their cellphone repair business is suffering from high taxes.
“If he is able to bring back jobs, and lower taxes, that would really help us out,” Eli Gonzalez said. “I am really just putting my faith in God, and in this man, Trump, just believing everything he says he is going to do.”
California
Wilson Graphstone, an 18-year-old high school student, traveled from San Francisco, California.
“I’d never been to an inauguration before, I’d never even been to D.C. before,” Graphstone said. “I’d never really followed politics that much before, but this election I followed it pretty closely and I’m a Trump fan so I thought I’d come to see this.”
The Bay Area resident said his views on Trump are “pretty unpopular” with many of his peers.
“We live in a country where everyone can have different views, and I’d say that’s a good thing that I’m able to express my views and others are able to express their views without any consequence[s].”
Esther Organyan travelled from California to spend #Inauguration day in Washington, D.C. pic.twitter.com/3xyQBuo9XC
— Rachel del Guidice (@LRacheldG) January 20, 2017
The controversies surrounding former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were a deciding factor in her decision to vote for Trump, said Esther Oganyan, 23, a student at California State University, Fresno.
“We read [Clinton’s] emails that got leaked,” said Oganyan, who also works as an account manager for an insurance agency. “If that in itself is not enough to not vote for Hillary, I don’t know what is.”
Louisiana
Angela Saxon is from Kentwood, Louisiana and traveled to D.C. to celebrate Donald Trump's #Inauguration. pic.twitter.com/hCrFzKgo7H
— Rachel del Guidice (@LRacheldG) January 20, 2017
Angela Saxon, 43, a secretary, hails from Kentwood, Louisiana. Saxon said she supported Trump because of his personality.
“Celebrating Mr. Trump brought me to D.C.,” Saxon said. “I know Trump is a go-getter. We need somebody who is on everybody’s side.”
Saxon also said she appreciates the religious convictions of Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. “Trump and Pence are God-fearing [individuals] and we need to bring that back,” she said.
Alabama
Scott Haven, a project manager from Montgomery, Alabama, said this was the first time he ever had an interest in attending a presidential inauguration.
“I had never been to an inauguration before, but I was glad to see Donald Trump won so that’s why I came down,” said Haven.
“I think he’s energized the American population and he’s actually for the American people,” he added, “and not a lot of the politicians in the past 30 years have really been for the American people, they’ve been more self-centered.”
“Like I said, I’m excited to see somebody who’s actually focused on the American people.”
North Carolina
Lisa Walker was excited to get her #Inauguration tickets from her local congressman, Rep. Ted Budd, R-NC. pic.twitter.com/5iu9KxjvDh
— Rachel del Guidice (@LRacheldG) January 20, 2017
Lisa Walker, 47, is a stay-at-home mom from Greensboro, North Carolina, who got her inauguration tickets from her congressman, Rep. Ted Budd, R-N.C.
“I sent my name in as soon as he made the announcement that he would be giving away tickets,” Walker said of Budd. “We brought our three kids, an 11-year-old and twin 9-year-olds, to the inauguration.”
Walker said the three children have been sharing their excitement at school.
“My kids have been talking it up with their teachers, and their teachers wanted to come too,” Walker said. “I hope they will end up really appreciating the opportunity they were given. We may never get this chance again.”
Florida
Susan Baltez travelled from Hollywood, Forida, to attend the #Inauguration. pic.twitter.com/ACqHD3H70i
— Rachel del Guidice (@LRacheldG) January 20, 2017
Susan Baltez, 67, originally from Liverpool, England, moved to the United States in 2000 to marry her husband, Jude. They live in Hollywood, Florida.
“We came to witness the inauguration and [support] a man who will defend our Constitution,” Baltez said, explaining that she supported Trump because of his pledges to build a wall at the southwest border and to grow businesses and the economy.
Georgia
Will Colebrenner, 17, traveled to Washington, D.C., with a group of students from his high school. “I’m a big fan of Donald Trump and this country,” he said, “and a lot of the kids from my high school are too, so me and my school came to this inauguration.”
“What better way to support our man Donald Trump, our country, and our school then by coming to D.C. this weekend?”