By Olivia Krauth & Phillip Lentsch–
Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump held a rally that filled the Kentucky Convention Center on Super Tuesday. U of L students attended both as supporters and protestors.
The rally lasted about 45 minutes, and was chock-full of dissenting guests and repetitive Trump slogans. Trump touched on many points he’s made about the military, the second amendment, ISIS and China. During his speech, Trump was regularly interrupted by protestors wanting to fire up the crowd.
“It was way crazier than I thought it’d be,” sophomore Hailee Bowling said after attending with her family. “The protestors were screaming in our faces as they got dragged out. Trump kept yelling ‘get them outta here.’ It was just a little too much for me.”
Before and after the rally, protestors lined the streets, using “Black Lives Matter” posters and receiving chants of “build that wall” from Trump supporters.
U of L student Shiya Nwamguma made national news after a video of her being shoved by multiple Trump supporters went viral. In an interview with WFPL, Nwamguma said the men pushing her also called her the n-word and the c-word.
Kate Hall, another U of L student, was also kicked out of the rally. Hall has decided to file assault charges in response to being violently pushed out of the event.
“I filed an assault report along with Ben Vivona. I believe it is up to the prosecutor’s office to decide if they’ll press charges. I hope they do, in the interest of the trauma me and my fellow protestors faced when peacefully expressing our First Amendment rights. I also hope Donald Trump is held responsible for inciting the violence through his hate speech and directly instructing his supporters to get us out of there rather than having security handle it,” Hall said.
Protestors inside the rally frequently had their posters torn apart by supporters, sometimes with Trump saying “Get them out of here!” on stage. Louisville Metro Police escorted protestors out multiple times.
Nathan Groneck, former SGA presidential candidate, was escorted out with others after chanting “Black Lives Matter” during the rally.
“I’ll say that all two dozen queer folks and people of color in that rally of thousands attended at the risk of being violently assaulted, regardless of their intentions to protest or support Trump,” Groneck said. “300 pound men assaulted a protesting mother in my group with her infant child in a sling on her chest. Someone is going to die at the hands of these Klansmen and Neo-Nazis. No one is safe, and everyone should be afraid of Trump’s America.”
Many other U of L students were also in attendance, either to show support for their favorite candidate or voice concerns about Trump’s message.
“Trump stated that ‘politicians are all talk and no action,’ which is ironic, coming from a man who has made a lot of promises and has yet to say how he plans to implement them. In debates, he does not challenge other candidates’ ideas, but instead attacks them as a person based on their gender, looks, or income,” sophomore Taylor Ratliff said.
“The amount of people there was insane and the atmosphere was high energy,” Brennan Gregory said. “The speech was very ‘in your face’ but that was expected and what his supporters like about him. He stopped about three times to have protesters removed mainly because they were being disruptive while he was speaking, not because they were there against him. Overall, it was a great time.”
“The Trump rally was as pathetic as it was horrifying,” Benjamin Garnett said. “This was a crowd-sourced wrestling match; where attendees had the opportunity not just to watch violence, but participate in it with impunity. Trump supporters harassed and attacked protestors, then cheered as event security and LMPD threw the protestors out of the event.”
“The speech itself was just a lot of sound bytes with the exception of the reference to the war on coal, which is obviously geared towards Kentucky voters,” sophomore Christian Bush said. “As far as the people attending the rally, I think the media and public perception has ridiculed Trump’s supporters as uneducated and racist, but that’s not what I really saw. They feel marginalized by the political system and Trump has found his niche channeling that frustration.”
Former Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie joined Trump on stage, introducing the GOP favorite. Since Christie’s endorsement of Trump on Feb. 26., the attention surrounding the New York businessman has escalated to new heights. The New Jersey governor wasted no time in backing Trump’s campaign.
“Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are the Washington D.C. twins that won’t accomplish anything in office,” Christie said. “They’re running out of time… They’re running out of time.”
When referring to the media, Trump spared no survivors.
“The press are the most dishonest humans in the world,” Trump said. “If I tell the crowd to ‘get protestors out,’ they make it seem as though I’m being too harsh. But if I stand by and do nothing, they’ll make me look soft.”
Trump also spoke on the United State’s foreign relations – focusing mostly on Mexico – stating that they were “killing us” with drugs and trade.
“If I didn’t bring up illegal immigration, we wouldn’t even be talking about it now. They (Mexico) don’t even know it yet, but they’re going to pay for that wall,” Trump said.
Towards the end of the rally, Trump highlighted many of his accomplishments that he believes qualifies him for the presidency. Numerous times, he pointed out the fact that he was self-funding his entire campaign, and wasn’t a puppet for major corporate interests like other candidates. Trump also saved some mocking remarks for Hillary Clinton, saying that she wasn’t fit for office.
“Hillary Clinton doesn’t have the strength or stamina to be President,” Trump said. “She’d do a terrible job.”
Trump’s rally showcased an extremely polarized Louisville. While thousands of attendees made their way out of the convention center, the protestors inside and outside demonstrated just how divisive of a candidate Trump is.
“Right now the American Dream may be dead, but if I’m elected, we’re going to make it bigger and stronger and better than ever before,” Trump said.
Photos by Nick Amon / The Louisville Cardinal.
