There were many Latinos among the Bay Area’s 300,000-plus people who voted for President-elect Donald Trump, and some of them will be attending this week’s historic inauguration in support of America’s soon-to-be 45th president.
“We did anything and everything to get him elected and it’s so exciting that the people spoke and elected him,” Kim Womack, who started and took the Santa Clara County Trump campaign from a mere 23 volunteers to 975 volunteers by the election, told the San Jose Mercury News.
“What’s fantastic is that we now have this opportunity to go to D.C. It’s the chance of a lifetime.”
Clinton received nearly 3 million more votes than Trump in California. However, the Investors Business Daily noted that if the Golden State was removed from the equation, Trump would have won 1.4 million more popular votes than Clinton.
Minorities who campaigned for Trump weathered a tough storm: nearly a year-and-a-half of criticism, the loss of friends and often cold family receptions. Now, they are savoring the victory.
According to the Mercury News, approximately 600 people are expected at the black-tie gala Latino Inaugural 2017 on Thursday, at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
“It was really hard for a really long time to be a Trump supporter, especially in the Bay Area,” Corrin Rankin, who chaired California’s African-Americans for Trump coalition, told the Mercury News. “We all received more than our fair share of push-back from strangers, family and friends.”
While some Californians are planning to join and support Trump on his big day, many of their counterparts will be flying to D.C. for the exact opposite reason. California progressives have vowed to strengthen the “resistance” against Trump and his administration.
On Sunday, thousands of progressives throughout the nation gathered to “resist” Trump on repealing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), among other policies, with local meetings and rallies sponsored by MoveOn.org and promoted by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
In Santa Monica, MoveOn.org sponsored a gathering at a local church to help volunteers organize rallies and rail against Republicans on immigration and ObamaCare.
Security at the inauguration will be extremely tight in order to keep the estimated million attendees safe and secure from protests that have the potential to turn violent.
Photo: file
Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter and Periscope @AdelleNaz
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