Donald Trump has faced a good deal of controversy from both his partisan opposition and his self-proclaimed ideological peers over the course of his presidential campaign.
So when the Republican presidential nominee’s rally in Greensboro Tuesday was interrupted by fifty protesters who entered the arena and immediately began chanting “deport hatred; never Trump”, it came as a surprise to no one. Rather, it was a moment that most inside had anticipated, smartphones at the ready to capture this now all-too-common sight at Trump events.
“Sometimes, Trump just says things that get under people’s skin. He has a lot of great ideas that could really help move the country forward, if he could only learn to stop with the hateful rhetoric,” said Karen Bartley, a retiree from Asheville, “the protests you see are just natural reactions to these types of things he says.”
Bartley is a registered Democrat, yet plans on voting for Trump in November. She said the top policy issues that drew her to Trump, factors that she suspects are drawing millions of voters to the Republican nominee, were national security, job growth and bringing transparency back to the political system.
Despite the “never Trump” protestors, as well as the seven other groups that were escorted out by security during the course of the rally, Mr. Trump used his time on stage to lay out his platform, highlighting issues like the ones Bartley describes.
“We’re losing, folks. We’re losing in trade, we’re losing in negotiations with countries that sponsor terrorism, we’re losing in business,” said Trump, “and the reason that we’re losing is we send these political hacks to negotiate for us. Meanwhile, China, Iran, all these other countries are sending their best and brightest to negotiate for them.”
Trump also took aim at his presumed Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, calling her weak and suggesting that he is a truer feminist than is Mrs. Clinton because she has taken political contributions from nations like Saudi Arabia which actively discriminate against women. Trump also said it is because of politicians like Clinton who are afraid to take a more conservative stance on immigration that the United States witnesses tragedies like the recent shooting in an Orlando nightclub.
“The children of Muslim immigrants are responsible for an increasing number of deadly attacks on Americans,” said Trump, “That’s a fact. These immigrants have hostile attributes. Just look at what this savage did in Orlando. And that could have been stopped if politicians like Crooked Hillary weren’t afraid to stop them from coming in the first place.”
According to Rick Jennings, a furniture salesman and lifetime GOP voter from Thomasville, a big part of Trump’s appeal is that he is not a career politician like Clinton and as a result he is willing to take stances that many people support, but most public figures aren’t willing to endorse.
