‘We want to support our president’
Many from out of state come to Dalton to see President Trump
Newlyweds Matthew and Breanna Johnson of Hollywood, Alabama, are ardent supporters of President Donald Trump and came to Dalton on Monday to see the president at the airport.
“He’s pro-America, and he sticks up for the constitutional rights of the people,” Matthew Johnson said of the president. “He’s done a tremendous job with the economy, he’s put the American worker first, and he’s delivered on his promises to the best of his ability, considering what he’s had to work with.”
Johnson hopes Trump doesn’t relinquish the presidency to Presidentelect Joe Biden.
“Trump is the true winner of this election,” he said. “The Supreme Court (of the United States) should have heard the case (Trump’s legal team presented regarding claims of election fraud and) let the American people know their voice matters.”
Traffic was backed up for miles along Airport Road, and numerous pop-up souvenir stores full of Trump paraphernalia and packed parking
lots were seen for the first presidential visit to Dalton in 28 years.
“This (crowd) is starting to resemble” the president’s visit to Rome in November, when “it was like a seven-mile parking lot” due to the massive throng, said Mark Bogart, second vice chair of the Gwinnett County Republican Party, who volunteered to direct bus traffic in the Walnut Square Mall parking lot as dozens of buses shuttled groups to the airport for the president’s rally. “There’s a lot of enthusiasm,” he said.
Attendees arrived not only from across the region or state, but from several surrounding states, including Tennessee, like Randy and Michelle Lawson.
“We want to support our president,” said Michelle Lawson, who saw Trump speak at a rally in Washington, D.C., and stayed in a Trump International hotel during that trip. “He’s for the American people, and he’s real, not a racist (as some have alleged).”
She believes Trump’s loss to Biden “was rigged.”
“Look at how many people come to (Trump’s) rallies,” she said, gesturing to the crowd waiting for buses in the mall’s parking lot.
Alabama’s Ron O’Neill also believes it was “not a fair election,” he said.
There has been no evidence of widespread fraud during the 2020 general election.
O’Neill and his wife support Trump and his agenda not only for current times, but for the future, and they hope he runs again in 2024, he said.
“We want to see him in office for our children and grandchildren.”
Tennessee’s Caleb Jones is likewise hopeful about a Trump bid for the White House in 2024, but he didn’t want to miss Monday’s opportunity to see the president, either, he said.
“It may be the last time I see him (this term).”
Trump’s visit to Dalton was billed as a “Victory Rally” for Georgia Republicans David Perdue and U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler who are on the ballot Tuesday for U.S. Senate runoffs against Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock. Perdue’s Senate term ended on Sunday.
Currently, the Senate stands 50-48 in the GOP’s favor; if there is a tie vote in the Senate, the deadlock is broken by the vice president, which will be Democrat Kamala Harris, so Republicans need to win at least one of the two runoffs to remain in the majority.
Prior to Trump’s appearance, the last time a sitting president visited Dalton was in August 1992 when President George H. W. Bush toured a Shaw Industries facility and held a rally at the airport while campaigning for reelection.
Though Trump lost Georgia to Biden, receiving 49.25% of the vote to Biden’s 49.51%, the president is popular in this region, carrying Whitfield County in November with 69.7%.
Not everyone traveled from out of state. Eric and Laura Wagner made the short trip from Chatsworth to see Trump in person for the first time.
“I don’t believe in giving free stuff away to lazy people who don’t work,” Eric Wagner said. “That’s the biggest reason” he supports the president.
For his wife, Trump’s stance on illegal immigration is the main allure, she said: “Trump is really doing something about (illegal immigration).”
“That’s the big thing for me,” she said. “If you’re not supposed to be here, get out.”
She also appreciates the atmosphere of a Trump rally.
“It’s very patriotic,” she said. “I’m retired Air Force, so ( patriotism) is important to me.”