On Monday, Nov. 16, Donald Trump made a stop in Rocky Top to talk about his campaign, immigration, veterans, foreign affairs, and much more. Trump is known for his bold, cut-the-crap statements and he made it clear to thousands of people in the Knoxville Convention Center how he plans to "Make America Great Again." The Presidential hopeful has gotten a lot of heat for his political views on illegal immigration. Most controversy started when Trump announced his run for President as he stated:
"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best," he said. "They're sending people that have lots of problems...they're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."
Trump asserted his views on immigration in the rally on Monday. In case you missed it, here are some highlights of Trump's arguments in Knoxville.
"When I announced, I had talked about a thing called illegal immigration.... a subject that I didn't even think was gonna be a part of the campaign. And boy, did I make it a part of the campaign."
"We are going to build a wall, and it's gonna be a real wall. We're gonna build a real, beautiful, big, high wall. And if you happen to get to the top of that wall, you're gonna be afraid to come down."
"We are tired of stupid people running the government... We're gonna make it better than ever before."
"I'm gonna bring jobs back from all of these places that, for years, have been ripping us off.
"We're gonna have a country again... we're gonna have borders."
"You have to have somebody that has an instinct to lead this country."
"We are going to get rid of people that we have in this country who are here illegally. They have to come back legally.... We are bringing them back to the country they came from, let that country worry about them."
"We are no longer going to be the stupid country that everyone thinks we are, because our leaders are so bad."
"We are going to straighten out our country from the standpoint of immigration. We are going to make great, great changes. We are no longer going to be a laughing stock. We are no longer let our jobs go out to other countries. We are gonna do so many things that are just gonna be so, so great."
"In our country, our veterans are not treated as well as the illegals."
"We're gonna have our companies stay here, we're not letting them go to Mexico so easily.... they take our jobs, and we get nothing out of it."
"The American dream is dead. But we're gonna make it bigger and better and stronger than ever before."
Trump's views on deporting illegal immigrants and building a giant wall did not go without protest. One local group "Somos Uno" or "We Are One" chose to take a stand. The group organized and protested Trump's relations towards minority groups, specifically Latinos, and called for an end to racism.
There was an obvious back and forth between activists as another group of people began shouting from the other side of the street as they left the event. These people, supporters rather than protestors, chanted "Build a Wall" in support of Trump's proposition.
