WASHINGTON — Donald Trump supporters gathered Friday near the National Mall for the inauguration ceremonies were excited for President Barack Obama to leave office and for Trump to get to work tackling issues related to immigration and the economy.
Dan and Linda Hodges (pictured above), ages 60 and 73, respectively, drove down from Indiana for Trump’s swearing-in and inaugural parade. They said they were both fans of Vice-President elect Mike Pence and were drawn to Trump as well.
“I think he’s wonderful,” Linda Hodges told TPM. “It’s about time someone takes ahold and starts doing something for the American people.”
Hodges said she voted for Obama in 2012, but backed Trump in November because of his message about the economy. She also said she thought he would work on “preserving our country.”
“I think the morals of the people are going. From when I was a lady, I was a lady. I didn’t ask for equal rights. I wanted to be a lady,” she said. “And now these women still want more rights. What kind of rights? I don’t see that they have to gripe about anything.”
Dan Hodges told TPM that he’s ready for Obama to leave and was unhappy with the President’s recent commutations.
“It’s just crazy. What is this man thinking?” he said.
He said he thought that Obama performed well at first, but then went downhill.
“People were actually comparing him to the Antichrist,” Hodges said.
Asked if he would make that comparison himself, he replied, “yes.”
“He just scares me to death,” Hodges said of Obama. “I hope to god Trump does okay.”
Dan Parker drove down from Massachusetts with his wife to attend his first inauguration. Asked if he was happy Obama was leaving office, Parker said he was.
“If they had a party for that I’d be at that one too,” he told TPM. “I never liked him from the get-go, and before you even ask, race had nothing to do with it.”
As for Trump, Parker said: “He’s not a politician. … He’s a businessman. The country needs to be run more like a business than it has been.”
Michelle Christl traveled from outside of Detroit with her daughter and friend. She said she supports children of immigrants staying in the United States and a woman’s right to choose, but she wants Obamacare repealed.
“I’ve seen a lot of people not be able to afford health insurance anymore. The working class can’t afford it,” she told TPM, observing that those who do not work can get health insurance.
She also said she has seen people lose factory jobs and that she’s looking for Trump to keep jobs in the United States.
