Donald Trump's Fans Sound Ready for a Reboot in Virginia
Donald Trump's Fans Sound Ready for a Reboot in Virginia
by Benjy Sarlin
Aug 20 2016, 7:37 pm ET
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Donald Trump is known for firing up crowds with ad-libbed speeches that frequently veer into offensive territory, but supporters at his rally Saturday sounded ready for a more buttoned-up candidate.
Waiting for the Republican nominee to arrive outside Fredericksburg Expo Center, a number of attendees praised Trump's speech in North Carolina this week in which he expressed "regret" for unspecified things he'd said that "may have caused personal pain." While the meaning was somewhat ambiguous, the shift in tone struck some as a step in the right direction.
"It's good he's apologizing," Liam Daly, a local high school student voting in his first election, told NBC News. "He needs to act more compassionate, that's what turns young folks away."
Daly said he had his "fingers crossed" that Trump's recent appearances would prove a model for the campaign.
For Pete Foerster, a 49-year old cable engineer, the "regret" statement was "powerful" and overdue.
Foerster is supporting Trump in the hopes he'll shake up the "Capitol Hill club," but some of his more outrageous statements have bothered him. He cited Trump's disdain for refugees, with whom he sympathizes, and his offhand talk about potentially using nuclear weapons against the terror group ISIS as two issues that stuck out.
"I wish he could filter better, but I believe in his message," Foerster said.
While some were eager to describe Trump's recent comments on regret as an apology, Drucillia Turner, 67, interpreted them as more limited in scope.
"I think he's regretful saying some things the way he said them," she said. "I don't think retreat is his way."
Inside the event space, Trump delivered his stump speech with the help of teleprompters, a practice he's decried on the trail regularly throughout the last year. But the more scripted approach didn't seem to dim the enthusiasm from the crowd, who punctuated his remarks with deafening chants of "lock her up!", "build the wall!" and "tell the truth!"
Nor was Trump's message drastically different — he questioned Hillary Clinton's "strength and stamina," criticized free trade agreements, and promised to reopen coal mines in Virginia.
"Our jobs are gone. Everything is gone," he said. "It's going to change and it's going to change fast."
Trump's campaign is in reboot mode this week following a staff shakeup and an uneven experiment with prepared speeches and it's not entirely clear where things are heading.
New campaign CEO Steve Bannon is known for spreading unrelenting and conspiracy-laden war on Trump's enemies via his website Breitbart. And while Trump earned positive reviews for his message in Charlotte, he provoked a fierce response from critics over a speech on Friday in which he asked black voters "what the hell do you have to lose" by supporting him.
He ditched that riff on Saturday, but asked "the African American community to honor me with their vote."
Nonetheless, Trump's fans are taking notice of the more controlled events of the last few days, with some volunteering that they were encouraged by his turn.
"He's doing well," Bill Ashton, a 23-year Navy veteran, said. "The teleprompters keep him focused. If he stays focused, we'll be winners."
"I think he's toned it down," Patricia Murray, a 61-year-old OB/GYN, said. "I think he's reaching out. He's being more thoughtful about what he says and how."
Related: Trump Tells African-American Voters 'What Do You Have to Lose?'
Murray said she's supporting Trump in the hopes he'll cut down on regulations she felt were stifling her medical practice. "I vote on policy. I can overlook some of the statements he makes that might be offensive," she said.
Teresa Pitner, 59, said Trump shouldn't hesitate to lean on more seasoned advisers to determine his general election approach.
"He's like one of us; we're not politicians," she said. "To get professional help is great."
Whatever changes Trump makes in the final stretch, he has a long road to climb with voters outside his loyal base. Several recent polls show Trump trailing Clinton by a double-digit margins in Virginia, where he's especially unpopular with suburban voters in places like nearby Fairfax County.
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016...rginia-n635251
Meet the Many for Whom Donald Trump is Their Voice: Thousands Rally in Virginia
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...02-640x427.jpg
by JULIA HAHN
21 Aug 2016
Fredericksburg, VA
FREDERICKSBURG, VA – Donald Trump addressed a crowd of more than 3,000 people at the Fredericksburg Expo and Conference Center in Virginia on Saturday evening.
Prior to Trump’s address, Breitbart News caught up with many rally attendees – which included women, veterans, black Americans, Hispanic Americans, immigrants, seniors and millennials – and asked why they are supporting Trump.
The responses amongst a diverse group of Trump supporters were overwhelming: “he’s my voice,” “I need relief,” “we need change,” “we need to turn this country around,” “he believes in this country,” the supporters explained.
Anna, who immigrated to the United States from Peru, told Breitbart, “I liked him from day one. He speaks his mind. He’s my voice. I felt that way from day one.”
Anna’s husband, Butch, was a Ted Cruz supporter during the primary, but said that once Trump became the nominee, he didn’t have to think twice about whom he’d support in the general election. “The people who are #NeverTrump are for Hillary Clinton,” Butch explained. “I don’t know how you could be for anyone but Trump.”
Anna said that she did not think Hillary Clinton would be good for American women. “Hillary Clinton is for Hillary Clinton. That’s the only woman she supports,” Anna said. “I’m a Latina for Trump!”
At this point, another woman—an immigrant from Ecuador— who was standing nearby, but did not know Anna and Butch enthusiastically chimed in: “Trump’s honest! He says the truth! Hillary’s supposed to be in jail! She’s lying to the country. Mentirosa! Mentirosa! [Spanish for ‘liar’]”
Anna laughed and joined in on the woman’s chant: “Mentirosa! Mentirosa! Liar!”
“Hillary is a liar!” the woman from Ecuador said waving her Make America Great Again sign. “I never liked her!”
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...-and-Butch.jpg
Anna and Butch
Danny Prawatsrichai, who immigrated to the U.S. from Thailand, said: “I like the way he talks. I want to see change. People need jobs. We need change. Trump is a true man. I want him to win.”
Prawatsrichai said that he believed Trump was a more genuine person than Hillary Clinton. “I hate her. Trump is good – he is a good man. I know this in my heart. That’s the truth. We need him to win.”
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...watsrichai.jpg
Danny Prawatsrichai
http://media.breitbart.com/media/2016/08/VA-rally-3.jpg
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...verHillary.jpg
Sam, a black American from Virginia, told Breitbart that Trump “is our voice.”
“Donald Trump is going to put America’s interests first,” Sam said. “I mean, let’s face it, he’s giving more to us than we’re giving to him. We don’t have a voice. He is our voice.”
Sam explained that he was particularly bothered by the financial dealings of the Clinton Foundation. “Trace the money,” Sam said. “Hillary’s got so many sins that she has to spend the rest of her life on her knees praying she gets into heaven.”
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...ally-5-Sam.jpg
Sam
Kelly Deleski said she supports Trump because he will better represent the interests of American women. “We need to defeat Hillary,” Deleski explained. “She is not representative of America, of women, of military, or of anything that I hold dear to my heart. She’s got all these Middle Eastern donations that are coming from countries that suppress women. I don’t know how she can say she’s for women when she’s taking donations from Middle Eastern countries that suppress women and deny women their rights.”
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...ly-6-Kelly.jpg
Kelly with friends
Pam, a nurse from Fredericksburg, seemed to echo this sentiment. “She offends me in that for being such a ‘liberated woman,’ she sure depends on men to take care of her,” Pam said.
“I think she is a liar and a thief. I always thought so. I remember when we went through all of the scandals with Whitewater and Vince Foster. I was young—18, 19 years old— and was a political junkie… I didn’t like her then, and I don’t trust her now.”
Pam explained that, in her view, Trump represents the “change candidate”:
“If I want any sort of change, I have to do something about it, and I have to vote for Trump… He’s right when he says, ‘What have you got to lose?’ That’s not something he should just be saying to African Americans and inner city people, that’s what you should be saying to everybody because everybody is in the same boat. We haven’t had a raise in years, we’re working our butts off, we’ve got to pick up overtime just to make it. It’s such bull.”
“If he does half of the things he says he’s going to do, this country is going to be a better place and I’m going to be in better shape,” Pam said, noting specifically that, as a nurse, she preferred Trump’s health care policy to that of Hillary Clinton.
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...-Nurse-Pam.jpg
Pam
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...rump-women.jpg
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...son-shirts.jpg
Chris, a millennial from Northern Virginia, said that he supports Trump because of his immigration and economic policies. “I truly believe we need to build a wall to keep all of the illegal immigrants out,” Chris said. “The reason I’m supporting Donald Trump is because he’s not like the other establishment politicians like Hillary Clinton or Marco Rubio.”
Chris’ friend, Ben Johnson, chimed in: “I didn’t support [Rubio] either. He was weak. He wasn’t strong like Donald Trump is. He was ‘Little Marco’. You can tell that Donald Trump believes what he says.”
“There are tons of people our age supporting Donald Trump,” Johnson added. “Almost everyone I know our age is supporting Donald Trump.”
Chris nodded in agreement, noting: “I worked at Chick-Fil-A for nine months and nearly all of my co-workers were supporting Donald Trump.”
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...is-and-Ben.jpg
Chris and Ben
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...1-hard-hat.jpg
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...n-MAGA-hat.jpg
“Hillary is so untrustworthy. I hate the way that she sells out to Wall Street,” said Kyle, a college student at the University of Mary Washington who described himself as a “moderate conservative”. Kyle said that because he is a Republican he was always planning on supporting the Republican nominee regardless of who had won the nomination.
“I can’t stand the whole email fiasco,” Kyle added. “My dad is a government worker and he told me that if he ever were to send classified emails over a private server, he’d be in jail. But apparently it’s fine for Hillary to do it because she’s above the law.”
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...ly-13-Kyle.jpg
Kyle
John, an immigrant and former Marine officer, who attended the rally with his daughter, a non-U.S. citizen who works in Virginia, explained that he is supporting Trump because, “he shares my basic values: he’s pro-life, and he’s pro-second– amendment… I’m a Republican and I support the Republican Party.”
John said that he felt Clinton lacked the temperament to be president:
“I used to be a Marine officer. One of my friends was a fighter jet pilot that flew Air Force One during President Bill Clinton, and he said that Hillary had a hot temper. She was terrible. In the media, she looks nice, she smiles, but on Air Force One she would argue and shout. He said it was terrible. I think Hillary is a liar.”
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...h-daughter.jpg
“We’ve got to save our country for our grandkids,” Ed Veazey said when asked why he and his wife were there supporting Trump. Veazey, a former submariner, explained that he and his wife, Joy, had four children and ten grandchildren, and that it is out of concern for them and their futures that the Veazeys are supporting Trump.
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...Joy-Veazey.jpg
Ed and Joy Veazey
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...mer-marine.jpg
Mike Andersen, a former Marine from Southern Maryland, said that he was voting for Trump because, “I’m a small business owner and I need relief.”
When asked what he thought of Hillary Clinton, Anderson said just one word: “Liar.”
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...e-Andersen.jpg
Mike Andersen
“[Trump] stands up and tells the truth,” said one veteran from Northern Virginia, who attended the rally with his sister and father, who is also a veteran. “Trump’s not afraid to tell the truth. And I think a lot of politicians, both Republicans and Democrats, lie… I was blind to the whole situation before Trump came along. [Before Trump] I had thought Paul Ryan was okay, but now I’m against the establishment altogether. I don’t even consider Donald Trump a Republican—I consider him an Independent. I’m not voting Republican or Democrat, I’m voting for Trump.”
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...d-son-vets.jpg
Two vets
“We’re vets and Trump is sympathetic to veterans,” he added. “I don’t think Hillary could care less about vets. I don’t think she cares about anything but herself.”
“We need to turn this country around,” the man’s father added. “Trump believes in America and he’s the only one who can save our country. He’s a good man. He doesn’t have to do this. They’ve been calling him names. He’s doing it because he believes in this country.”
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...-for-Trump.jpg
Bike for Trump
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...-for-trump.jpg
Group of bikers for Trump
http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...on-outside.jpg
Father and son vets outside
http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presid...y-in-virginia/
