Never in my life did I think that the first political rally I went to would be for Donald Trump. On April 20, 2016, Trump hosted a free rally at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, a convenient five minutes from my campus, and I felt it was necessary to go and experience all that Trump had to offer. The media loves to hate Trump, so I really wanted to go and take in the experience and see if it lived up to the circus the media makes his events out to be.
It is so important to be informed on the presidential candidates. Although I definitely had my preconceived notions about Trump, I planned on just going and listening, trying to keep any bias out of it. On the way there, my roommate even mentioned that she was nervous she might actually agree with something he had to say. We were not going to protest or support, just to listen.
Upon arrival, we immediately realized that the media had actually reported on his events pretty accurately. The most shocking aspect of the crowd was how intense people were about their support for Trump. I guess part of me, during this entire campaign, has kept waiting for someone to jump out and say “Just kidding!” about Trump’s candidacy. But the crowd all took Trump incredibly seriously and were there because they 100 percent believed in what he had to say. We got to the event pretty early because we thought it would be packed (surprisingly not), so we had the opportunity to eavesdrop and people watch, which was honestly the best part of attending the rally. The number of times the waiting crowd would start up a “USA” chant was something I’ve never experienced before. Everyone there was wearing their “patriotic best,” all decked out in red, white and blue everything.
As it got closer to Trump’s appearance on stage, we started to feel more and more uncomfortable. Before Trump came on stage, his presenter instructed the crowd on the procedure for protesters during Trump’s speech. He asked the crowd to “raise your Trump sign high in the sky and I want everyone to chant 'Trump, Trump, Trump,' until security can take them out.” My roommate and I both just looked at each other in awe. The thought of treating someone so blatantly rude honestly shocked me. That was when we realized that the crowd was definitely starting to take on a mob mentality.
Standing directly in front of us were two women who were definitely not there in support of Trump. One was wearing a shirt with a message about marriage equality and the other was wearing a shirt with a collage of images of Bernie Sanders (it was hilarious). I was so nervous for them after the “procedure” for protesters was announced. They had turned around and spoken to us a few times and they were so nice, but I had no idea what their intentions were for the rally. I was afraid that if they did end up verbally protesting during Trump’s speech that the people around us would turn vicious.
Trump eventually graced us with his presence (around 30 minutes late, just saying). People went wild and everyone was trying to get a glimpse and a picture of Trump. It was like any typical large-crowd experience, everyone had their phones up above their heads trying to get a good shot. But, eventually, the crowd lost all of their interest in Trump.
Once the first group of protesters was identified, and Trump exclaimed, “Get ‘em out. It never ends, it never ends,” the crowd was so enthralled with “Find the Protester” that they had zero interest in listening to Trump. Honestly, the media reports about Trump’s rallies are pretty accurate to what I experienced. He took cheap shots, shouting “Build the Wall!” and “USA, USA” over and over to get the crowd riled up. But no one was actually listening to the content of his speech because the crowd was so loud and confusing with people shouting “Trump, Trump, Trump,” to identify protesters.
The two women in front of us did end up getting escorted out. A group of Black Lives Matter protesters near the front of the stage was being escorted out by security and ended up walking out right next to us. When Trump’s security team saw the woman with the Bernie Sanders shirt on they took her out, too, no questions asked. Same with the other woman with the marriage equality T-shirt on, even though she said, “Why? I’m just standing here.” The security officer was incredibly rude to her and it was so shocking to me how horrible he was. My roommate and I were both so disturbed after that, we actually ended up leaving early because we both felt so terrible. I almost cried over how unfair it was and we both felt sick to our stomachs.
When we left the building and escaped back into the sunshine, we both breathed a huge sigh of relief. It sounds dramatic, but we both felt like we had just dreamed the entire thing we had seen inside. We hadn’t though, because the two women who had been kicked out were heading up the group of protesters out on the lawn (it was awesome).
The environment surrounding the group of protesters outside was night and day compared to Trump’s event inside. There were supporters of all the other presidential candidates, and people who were there just supporting less hate, more love Everyone had their arms around each other, music was going, and people were honestly just having a great time. Trump’s supporters, before he arrived, had acted the same way. Smiling, laughing, saying hello, having a great time. But, it seemed like all Trump did when he started to speak was try to rile everyone up and remind them about how angry they were supposed to be.
I'll admit, I had pretty negative connotations going into Wednesday’s rally, and my experience was honestly pretty terrible, but I actually learned a lot from going to Donald Trump’s event.
I learned that even though we are a democratic society, and that voting rights are given to all American citizens, it takes a lot of bravery to stand up for what you believe in. Staying silent is brave, protesting is brave, supporting someone who you believe in is brave.
Going to this event showed me that patriotism is something that is unique to each individual. You don’t have to have an American flag in your yard or a star-spangled bikini to prove that you are patriotic. Learning about your voting options and exercising those rights though, that will forever be the most important form of patriotism. So do your research and go vote!
