WASHINGTON—Cheering outside the Capital One Arena on Inauguration Day, many Trump supporters expressed optimism for his presidency. However, some sentiments contained false information.
“We’re here because we know the truth, and we know he’s going in the right direction,” said supporter Katherine, whose last name was withheld by request. “He’s going to bring our country in the right direction.”
Trump supporters said they were excited for him to carry out his campaign promises.
“I just believe he’s one to make a legacy for our America,” said Texas resident Valerie Morts.
Many in the crowd anticipated the overturn of former President Joe Biden’s actions that came moments after Trump was sworn into office.
“I expect him to straighten out the country,” Trump supporter, Pattie Andrus-Stoffel said. “We are in disarray. Everything is upside down.”
When comparing Trump to Biden, some supporters cited incorrect information in their comments.
“He lost the election in 2020, and everything just slid back like 10 years,” said Pennsylvania resident Millie Hayes. “We had four years of a lot of things that just were not good for the country.”
Biden’s initiatives successfully executed a historic labor market expansion, reduced the unemployment rate by half, and decreased inflation significantly without triggering a recession.
The three biggest concerns among Trump supporters are immigration, abortion and the economy, according to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center.
“[The economy] declined these last four years,” Hayes believes. “Even though they say the economy is good, it really isn’t.”
The U.S. Department of Treasury released an analysis of Biden’s administration’s post-pandemic economic recovery.
“The U.S. economy outperformed expectations formed at the height of the pandemic and throughout the recovery,” the Office of Economic Policy said in a statement.
The statement also said In 2020, Biden inherited a 6% unemployment rate from the previous Trump administration, which fell to 2.1% within the first year of his presidency.
Yet, Hayes disagrees. “People are lying to us because the economy’s not good,” she said.
Nevertheless, during Biden’s first year of presidency, “real GDP growth was robust, reaching its pre-pandemic trend by the fourth quarter of that year,” the statement read.
The second largest concern supporters had was immigration.
“How do you feel about spending your tax dollars on people who don’t contribute to our economy to begin with and then we support them?” Trump supporter Ray Stoffel asked.
President Trump signed executive orders that would allow the Department of Homeland Security, Justice and State to “take all necessary action to immediately repel, repatriate and remove illegal aliens across the southern border of the United States.”
Furthermore, the executive order “Securing Our Borders” aims to complete a physical U.S. southern border wall, a project Trump promised began in his first term, but did not finish.
Many of his immigration-related executive orders reference “deadly narcotics and other illicit materials” flowing into the U.S.
Pattie Andrus-Stoffel wants to see more border control and is looking forward to seeing these executive orders implemented.
“I like his immigration policy. I’m all for people coming here. Do it the right way,” she said. “Everybody coming in at one time, we can’t provide for the world at one time. We just can’t do it.”
Similarly, Sally Payno, a Dominican supporter is also in favor of Trump’s immigration policies.
“I was born in the Dominican Republic and came here the right way,” Payno said, referring to the “right way” as proper immigration documentation. “I became a U.S. citizen the right way, paid all my taxes the right way and I’m here.”
The energy was high on F Street Northwest as his supporters shuffled through nearly a half mile of metal barricades, hoping to make it into the arena to see the 47th president of the United States of America.
Sabrina McCrear is a HU News Service reporter.
