I may have been brainwashed into not eating another Oreo again.
That’s simply what “The Donald” does to you.
Somehow last Monday night, I found myself at the Donald Trump rally in Richmond, Virginia. I am definitely not a huge Trump supporter, nor do I really have any sort of position within a political party, nor do I root for any one person in particular. But when Donald Trump is coming to your city, you can’t help but go see him.
He was supposed to have been in Virginia Beach a few weeks ago, but they cancelled and postponed his Virginia trip until spontaneously on Monday night in Richmond. A few friends and I, some of which are in fact Trump supporters, decided it would be the opportunity of a lifetime.
I did grow up watching "The Apprentice" with my family and loving the idea of Trump: work hard, get a lot of money. Plus he was pretty entertaining. I’ve always loved Ivanka Trump and been a huge fan. But I reassure you that in my eyes, Donald Trump was just an entertaining, wealthy businessman.
So we showed up to the rally at 5:15 p.m. knowing that the event started at 7 p.m. and the doors opened at 5 p.m.. We saw Gov. John Kasich speak a few weeks prior, but of course, this was on a totally different scale. The Richmond International Raceway was already packed with people forming a line around the building. The people there were of a much different demographic than those at Kasich’s event: the people here represented a much more diverse group of conservatives, something I hadn’t really considered. They were all dressed in their full-out Trump apparel, many with several buttons, specially made t-shirts, and of course, the “Make America Great Again” hat. The line was surrounded by food trucks and pizza stands, as well as people selling t-shirts, buttons, hats, and GOP apparel. It was like I had entered an amusement park, full of different people there for different reasons, with lots of food and clothes. The Trump energy was in the air.
We stood in line and listened to those around us talk. Plenty of broadcasters were there interviewing people, and we were asked several times to sign to get Trump on the ballot. We gladly smiled and took the Trump 2016 stickers. Heck, if you’re going to be there, you might as well fully experience it.
Eventually we got inside, and the atmosphere was incredible. It was huge --people sitting up on a stage with their signs getting all fired up about the candidate that would be speaking in a few hours. I laughed thinking about how absolutely ridiculous it was that Donald Trump was running for president. The things that he’s said, the crass comments he's made, all of it. I couldn’t believe that this huge indoor stadium was being filled with all sorts of people that thought Donald Trump should be the next president of the United States, that he would actually be the best for all of our country, not just a select portion. But as more and more people filed in and I looked at the smiling faces, I realized that Trump was making an impact on not just our city of Richmond, but the whole country.
It seemed as though we waited forever. We had gotten into the building by 5:45 p.m. knowing that we would be standing until he was done speaking at 8 p.m. We were fairly close to the stage and people were just jam-packed around us. At 6:15 p.m., the first speaker was brought out. He introduced himself by proclaiming of how he was an African American pastor who loved Donald Trump, which made the crowd erupt into cheers. Simple things he yelled into the microphone were surely speaking to the audience that was getting really riled up in the anticipation of the Donald coming out soon. We all held hands and had an opening prayer, accompanied by the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem, all of which you could tell the audience was feeling really emotional about.
More and more speakers started to come out with words of Donald Trump being the one to make America great again and talking about how “Barack Obama was destroying the country.” It wasn’t just that they were saying these things; it was that they were enthusiastic about them, and the crowd reciprocated with cheers. We were surrounded by it. So many people felt it and believed it that we started to think, well, why not?
And then the moment came. It was 6:55 p.m., and the music was getting louder and more energetic. People were getting more amped up. We all stared at the black curtains with our phones high in the air, getting ready for the time that he would walk out. It was a weird feeling, being that excited. It was a moment of feeling as though everything would change as he stepped out, of knowing that I was about to see someone that people really did truly believe in, and it was someone I had watched on TV for years. I had come into this event cynical about the man that claimed he could be our president, and here I was, bursting with excitement at this guy that was about to walk out.
He walked out, and the place erupted into cheers. Wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, it was actually him. But of course, he walked through the group of people on the other side to greet them, making us unable to see him. The anticipation was still there as we all enthusiastically waited for him. “He’s getting in our heads by making us wait,” a friend said, and I felt it. For five minutes, I just stood with hope.
So of course eventually, he spoke about various topics, all of which had the crowd cheering and feeling excited. He touched on immigration, trade, jobs, ISIS and more. They were all the topics that I had heard him talk about on the news before, yet those were just the short clips where you couldn’t hear the excitement of the crowd around you. His words were nice, refreshing, and made you want to believe in something bigger than you could achieve. The simplicity with which he spoke made you start to believe that he was just an excellent businessman with great knowledge of how to use business in our country. All we hear in the media are his dumb comments, which were there, but with all the rhetoric of making great again, glossing over how we were going to have all of these wonderful jobs and keep our country safe, you start to think: “Hm, maybe he can make America great again.” It was wild. It wasn’t what he was saying necessarily, but his ability to speak with such a wonderful stage presence, to make you feel like he was actually talking to just you, and to feel like he cared about you. It was the same sort of feeling of being at a concert and feeling like you’re the only one in the crowd. And it was definitely a weird feeling.
He stopped speaking around 8 p.m., and we were exhausted. But there was something inside of you, being surrounded by Trump supporters and Trump himself, that made you feel a little different about this supposedly horrid man you read and heard about. Thinking about it now, I really can’t believe it all -- the fact that I saw Donald Trump and the fact that that night, I felt like he definitely was the best candidate, because he’s definitely not someone I’d actually vote for. But for a lot of people in that room, I’m sure they felt the same as me. A little on the fence, maybe, and with that rally, they were swayed. And what about all of the other rallies and events he’s had? The interviews and on-air time? All of these things are infiltrating the American people, regardless of whether or not they know it, and I’m sure they felt the same way. It is the Trump effect, and it is very powerful.
