Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump continued to ramp up the heat last Tuesday when he suggested that Second Amendment supporters could somehow prevent his opponent Hillary Clinton from appointing Supreme Court justices in the event she wins the election. Many observers, myself included, saw this as a blatant threat of assassination towards Clinton. Even the Secret Service tweeted that they were investigating his comments. Trump and his campaign are clearly no strangers to shocking controversies, but this seemed to really take the cake. Well, until his comments later in the week, anyway.
As disgusting as his most recent comments have been, there was one aspect that, at least for me, seemed to take precedence over all else. The fact of the matter was that he made those comments in none other than the great port city of Wilmington, North Carolina. Yup, that's right. Even more, Trump came to UNC Wilmington's campus to hold his rally at Trask Coliseum, the basketball arena on campus. Why is this such a big deal, you ask? Well, I'll gladly tell you.
Yes, Trump's campaign, from my point of view, is largely built on hatred, division, and fear-mongering. And yes, I am a huge detractor of his. However, that doesn't, and shouldn't detract from the fact that it was just plain cool to have him rally at this school. I mean, think about it for a second. While some pretty awesome speakers appear on campus regularly, we don't really get to host people this well-known -- whether this particular subject is seen as notorious or famous is really dependent on your own perspective -- very often. The last time we had someone of significant fame was T-Pain. Now, don't get me wrong, that concert was a lot of fun last year. But it's obvious that T-Pain's star comes nowhere close to that of Trump.
Now, it's important to note that UNCW has had presidential campaigns make stops in the port city in the past, notably then-senator Barack Obama in April 2008. However, Obama was at that point still in a Democratic nomination race against Clinton that was hotter than the sun beaming down on Wrightsville Beach on the hottest of days. Trump has actually locked up the nomination, furthering the significance of his visit.
I'll admit that I was pretty annoyed when the news first broke that Trump was visiting my school. However, even despite his highly inflammatory, divisive, and borderline un-American statements, I am glad that he visited. An important facet of education, and particularly university education, is being able to absorb all opinions, irrespective of how extreme or off-the-wall they may sound. The First Amendment is in place for a reason, and it should not be tampered with for the mere sake of preventing one's "safe space" bubble from being popped.
But above all, it gave us this gold gem:
Honestly, I couldn't help but smile every time I saw "Wilmington, NC" on the screen whenever the news would replay his gun comments. Now let's get Hillary to visit. It's only fair, right?
