On Wednesday September 30th, I attended the Donald Trump speech held at Keene High School. I wouldn’t call myself a fan of Trump – in fact, I’d call myself quite the opposite; regardless, I find him an interesting man and a significant public figure, so I felt seeing him speak would be a positive experience. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I pulled into the school grounds.
Walking toward the entrance, there were a plethora of signs boasting Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again.” Cue the eyeroll. There were hundreds, if not a thousand, people anxiously waiting to get to the door. Some members of the line were obviously there for comedic purposes, young liberal college students looking to get a good laugh; the majority however blatantly supported Trump and his presidential campaign, wearing t-shirts and selling buttons adorned with his face and signature wispy hair.
Upon walking inside, my friends and I were placed in an auditorium where we would watch Trump speak from a large screen – The gymnasium was apparently filled to the brim with the thousands of fans there to see him. As we walked into the auditorium, a religious figure was at the podium preaching wildly about the perils of abortion; how it ruins the sanctity of marriage and destroys the lives of unborn children. After the man finished his zealous speech, a popular classic rock anthem rang over the loud speakers. THE Donald Trump makes his way onto the stage. The crowd goes absolutely wild, and the people around me in the auditorium cheer as well, despite the fact that Trump has no way of hearing them.
He began his speech by informing us about the success of his campaign thus far, revealing that he is indeed in first place for the Republican candidacy. I stay silent as my peers clap enthusiastically, and I start to get looks from those around me. Trump went on to call those in the government today “stupid” and “embarrassing.” He uses lax phrases such as “who the hell cares anyway?” and “in the old days, we…” Trump of course discussed his plans for building a sky high, tangible wall on the border of the US and Mexico in order to keep out illegal immigrants. He made generalizations about the transportation of drugs, and stated that “sanctuary cities are disgraceful.” He asserts that our country is not “open territory” and that “anchor babies” are unacceptable and should not be classified as citizens. Referring to the 1950’s, a time when racism was extremely prevalent, Trump commented “That’s when we had a country – We’d put ‘em on boats and send ‘em South, so far that they couldn’t get back.”
I was appalled at the blatant prejudice Trump was preaching, and my heart sank as the crowd went wild in support of his ridiculous claims. Trump shared that upon becoming president, he would take away certain regulations that limit the productivity of corporations – aka the health and labor laws keeping our products and our workers safe. On women’s health, Trump said that he “loves them” – cherishes them in fact, and “what woman doesn’t want to be cherished?” That was the extent of the discussion on women’s health issues.
He stated as well that he wants to build up the military, cursing Obama for removing troops from Iraq, although he states that he does not wish to share his plans for policies regarding the Middle East because he wants to be “an unpredictable president.” Unpredictable is one trait I would not want the leader of my nation possessing.
Trump told the audience of his emphasis on academia and asserted verbatim that “I’m, like, a smart person,” however his speech was less than informative and was highly based off of the slander of his opponents. When Trump decided to grace the auditorium with his presence, the members of the audience erupted in a “Donald” chant. He boasted that although he didn’t originally plan on running for president, he’s done so because our country is in desperate need of a “real leader.”
I left the event at a complete loss for words. Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, the obvious racism and prejudice Trump spewed was just not appropriate for a political speech. I even agreed with some of his economic views and tax cuts, but the pretentious nonsense he was championing completely blinded me of any positive assertions. I am interested to see how far Trump will go in attaining the candidacy, and have begun plans to move to Europe in the event of his presidency… I suggest you all do the same.
