Talking To Supporters At A Trump Rally In Hyannis

HYANNIS – About 50 people voicing support for President Trump attended a rally at the airport rotary in Hyannis on Thursday afternoon.

Cape Cod Wave attended most of the two-hour rally, and talked to a handful of supporters. As cars drove by there were beeps, thumbs-up, and middle fingers.

By our amateur observation of cars driving by, there was a large majority positive reaction to the demonstrators. As one car drove by, a person showed a small Trump sign out the window.

Lou Parascand of West Yarmouth said, “When you exercise your Constitutional right and participate, you are making a difference.”

See also, Talking to Anti-Trump Demonstrators At The Weekly Falmouth Rally.

See also, A Tale Of Two Rallies About Trump, An Essay

 

Trump Supporters Showing Support On Cape Cod

Several people at the rally were waving blue Keep America Great Trump flags. Some waved American flags. A majority were wearing red Make America Great Again hats. 

“We’re having a rally,” said Diane Elliott of West Yarmouth. “We’re all concerned about the Trump impeachment. We believe Trump is totally innocent.”

“In the liberal community that is Cape Cod,” she said, “we want to be heard.”

“We want to project a presence on Cape Cod for Trump supporters,” said County Commissioner Ron Beaty Jr. “We have to show our support for the president.”

In interviews with a handful of those attending, a few specific points were made more than once. “Ever since Trump was elected,” said Elliott, the Democrats “have been saying that they’re going to impeach him.”

“From the minute the guy got elected, they talked about it every single month,” said Kevin Richards of Marstons Mills. Democrats divided the country and “didn’t even take a deep deep breath and let your president do his job,” he said.

They said there is much about the way Trump is presented by the media and by Democrats that is unfair.

Elliott said that Democratic politicians, particularly Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff, “are two of the most corrupt politicians our country has ever seen.”

President Trump, she said, is trying to drain the swamp.

Kathy Gianno of Marstons Mills echoed the sentiment. “It really is true. He’s trying to drain the swamp.”

 

The Economy, Borders, Military & Strength

Supporters tended to cite four things about the President they especially liked – the economy, his approach to the border, his support for the military and how, they said, he projects strength.

“We just love this man,” said Elliott. “We need strength in our government.”

Her husband, Jack Elliott, also of West Yarmouth, said, “I cannot think of a stronger, better president.”

And Richards said, “I like that he says what he’s going to do and then he does it. He puts America first.”

“If we don’t value something, then over time it loses its value. We ask the people that are here to respect what we have here and we ask that the people that come here respect what we have here,” said Richards. 

Richards spoke of this being “the fabric of America.”

“We believe in the concept of America,” he said. “We shouldn’t have an open border that doesn’t have government rules… We should have open borders but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have rules. And you shouldn’t be able to bypass the rules.”

Kathy Sherwood of Falmouth said, “I think he truly loves this country.”

Jack Sherwood, 15, of Falmouth, said, “I think the president is doing great things for our economy, and on our borders.”

Judy Green of West Yarmouth said, “He’s kept his word. He’s kept a lot of promises… He has done so much for the country, the economy and our military.”

Jack and Diane Elliott said they have been to several of his rallies. “When the president speaks, I am hanging on every word and I am in total agreement with what he says,” said Jack Elliott.

The Elliotts said they met the president at Trump National Doral Country Club in Miami, Florida.

“When you meet the guy, he’s just a regular man,” said Jack Elliott. “He’s so down to Earth. He loves this country.” And yet, said Elliott, Trump wakes up every morning with the media and the Democrats working against him.

 

Thoughts On Civility, The Media & The Previous President

“It’s hard for the Democrats to accept that he is president,” said Jack Elliott.

The victimhood of Trump’s presidency was another common theme of those at the rally.

“I have never seen a person take such a barrage,” said Richards.

“Impeachment is a distraction,” said Green.

Much of the media is viewed, by those we interviewed, as unfair. 

Jack Sherwood, who goes to Pope John Paul II High School, said, “the media is against [Trump]. They only present young people who are liberals,” he said. There are lots of young people who are conservative, he said.

In fact, he said, at his school “it’s predominantly conservative.”

Diane Elliott said she listens to both sides and takes what she hears with a grain of salt. “CNN is constantly finding something negative,” she said.

Jack Elliott said Trump has been treated with “total disrespect.”

“There was a time when, if you were a Democrat or Republican, it didn’t matter,” said Gianno. “The conversation was what do you want to have for dinner.”

People are no longer civil, she and others said. “People get attacked in restaurants for being Trump supporters,” said Gianno.

And the blame, they said, is mostly, or all, with liberals and the media.

At least two of those attending the rally told Cape Cod Wave that they have lost relationships with family over their support for President Trump.

“I’m a Trump supporter,” said Green. “I’ve lost family members over this.”

Green said opponents are so opposed to President Trump that when she asks them to “name one good thing he’s done for you or the country, they cannot think of one thing.”

Green said that even if they opposed him, they should be able to see one good thing he has done. But, when asked if she could name one thing President Obama did for her or the country, Green could not name one thing.

Cape Cod Wave asked several at the rally about former President Obama. 

“I thought he would do something positive for the black community,” Green said. But he did nothing for them, she said.

Gianno echoed that sentiment. “I did not vote for Obama,” she said. But when he was elected, she said, “I thought the black community needed that. It was socially time for the black community.” But also said, Obama did nothing for the black community.

Richards said, “Obama ended up dividing the country. He went on a world tour telling of our country’s faults. We’re not a perfect country, but no country in the history of the world” has done more for the world than the United States, he said.

Adam Lange, of Brewster, said, “The same rage you all feel is what we felt about Obama.”

Donna Sherwood of Falmouth had a different spin entirely. Sherwood, who said she has lost family over her support for Trump, said, “Obama is definitely a Muslim. There are videos all over the Internet,” she said. (Cape Cod Wave fact check: President Obama is not a Muslim.)

Sherwood claimed that Obama “was groomed by George Soros. Have you heard of the New World Order? I don’t know that much about it, but there is definitely an underground government behind the scenes.”

Sherwood said she gets her information from more places than just FOX news. Asked what news sources she reads, she cited Newsmax and Epoch Times.

Several people volunteered, without being asked, that they did not get all their news from FOX News. And almost everyone said they try to get a balanced look from various news sources.

But, they said, the mainstream media paints a biased and unfair picture of President Trump. “Thank God for Twitter,” said Kathy Sherwood of Falmouth. If we didn’t have Twitter, we wouldn’t know what he’s actually saying.”

Asked about some of President Trump’s harshest language, two people brought up his comments after the neo-Nazi march in which he was famously quoted as saying there are “good people on both sides.”

Lange said Trump’s comments were taken out of context and that he just meant that some of the people who supported keeping the statues up were good people, “not the Nazis.”

But Sherwood said, “Of course there’s good people on both sides. There’s good people, I’m sure, in the KKK. They’re not all bad.”

In the midst of the mostly red-hatted gathering, there was still a wide-ish spectrum of thoughts among those gathered.

Many wished for more civil conversations. Beaty, asked about this, smiled and said, “I do what I do.”

Jack and Diane Elliott, meanwhile, were smiling and waving at everybody. “I’m here for the next two generations, my children and grandchildren,” said Jack. “I think of them.”

As Cape Cod Wave turned to leave we heard Jack yell with joyful enthusiasm, “Did you see that black guy? He just gave me the thumbs up. He’s my brother from another mother!”

 

The President & The Truth

None of President Trump’s supporters believed he lies, and certainly not the number of times the media has reported.

The Washington Post, wrote that, as of October 9, 2019, the President had been in office for 993 days and made 13,435 false or misleading statements.

“He does exaggerate,” said Lange.

“He has backtracked a couple of things,” said Jack Elliott.

“A lot of what he says is taken out of context,” said Diane Elliott. “He fumbles sometimes.”

The people we spoke to at this rally believe the President is honest. According to them, it’s the media telling the story that is not honest.

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