On Monday morning, Washington, DC, was crimson scorching regardless of the freezing temps.
I awoke at 5:30 a.m. to get into the Capital One Enviornment, the place Donald Trump supporters have been diverted as a result of plunging temps. However I hit pause after turning on the native information and seeing the seemingly countless line of individuals already there. Some had camped out in a single day.
Amongst these interviewed: A school scholar who had fallen down stairs at a Metro station that morning and break up her head open.
She even had a kind of bandages wrapped round her head such as you see in cartoons. Nonetheless, she persevered and remained on line — concussions be damned. The prison justice main from Arlington, Va., needed to see DJT 47.
Head wounds, knee replacements, bitter chilly. Nothing was stopping these MAGA-ites, not even the truth that they wouldn’t get to see Trump in individual, for the reason that parade was canceled. They’re just like the Deadheads of the political world: They’ll observe this man anyplace and gown the half.
At 8 o’clock, I found an area line so lengthy I walked for almost an hour earlier than giving up on discovering the top. As an alternative I chatted with hardy of us — some dressed like Trump in fits and crimson ties and hats, others in head-to-toe camo. There have been elegant minks too. Everybody with their very own little bit of MAGA aptitude.
Jake Dee from Boston wore a customized crimson sequined blazer embroidered with a few of his favourite Trump tweets on the sleeve. He was disenchanted however undeterred by the occasions being moved inside.
“It’s what it’s, however we’re right here to have a good time and help. We’re right here to have some enjoyable. I really feel optimistic. We’re right here as a result of we’re extra optimistic than we have been 4 years in the past,” mentioned Dee, including he appreciates Trump’s “directness” and his America-first insurance policies.
His buddy Cole, from Philly, had his personal white blazer emblazoned with the phrases “Battle Battle Battle” on the again, “Unburdened” on one sleeve and “Maga Since Day One”on the opposite.
Lee Edwards from Birmingham, Ala., wore his new pair of golden Trump hightops.
He’s not a flowery sneaker man, nor has he ever thought-about himself political. However Edwards, who’s within the auto biz, thinks Trump is “going to carry vitality and produce again the automotive enterprise.” He, too, needed to be right here.
Me? I often gained’t go anyplace close to a crowd until there’s a ball concerned, however Trump supporters are wildly entertaining. They’re affected person, pleasant — and so they’ve been usually maligned by the media as Nazis or bigots, as we noticed after Trump’s huge MSG rally in October.
One fan I talked to was Jiale Zhu, a Chinese language-born Texan who got here solo from Dallas on his twenty fifth birthday — with out gloves. “I felt like this date was future,” he mentioned of the timing. “Everybody right here is so glad.”
The factor that shocked him? “I anticipated to see protesters, however I assume they couldn’t face up to the chilly.”
He was proper. I noticed no resistance.
I did see a gaggle of Pakistani-American males from Scarsdale, NY. One in all them, Muhammad Nizami, mentioned he was emboldened to face within the streets — regardless of a real-feel temperature within the teenagers —as a result of Trump “is a New Yorker like us. He’s giving us power.” That and his 4 layers helped him by means of.
Canadians Scott and Lori Earle got here from Alberta with a specifically made flag depicting each the stars-and-stripes and a maple leaf.
“That is the 51st state flag,” mentioned Scott. Certain, this climate is nothing to our neighbors to the north — however why journey for such distress when you may have it in your personal yard?
“It’s historical past within the making. Trump is the best president of all time. He’s the GOAT,” Scott mentioned, including {that a} sturdy US helps Canada.
Lori has another excuse to like Trump: “I feel he received Justin Trudeau to stop.”
Lastly, watching the ceremony within the foyer of the Washington Hilton, I sat subsequent to a dude named Dan from Wisconsin. He had a knee alternative three weeks in the past and was planning on standing on the parade route with a walker. As an alternative, he watched inside with crutches and his big scar, as huge as his cowboy hat.
“There was no approach I used to be lacking this. It’s historical past,” he informed me. Certain, however so was the sensation in my fingers after spending an excessive amount of time outdoors.
Edwards summed up the day’s attraction for lots of people.
“The entire nation is experiencing a chilly spell. But it surely’s about to heat up.”
Metaphorically or actually?
He grinned as he mentioned, “All the pieces is about to get very thrilling and really heat.”
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