Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Fans, foes march on Trump anniversary
They came equipped with signs, slogans, banners, T-shirts and caps.
The passions ignited by Donald Trump were on full display in South Florida on Saturday, as supporters and opponents marked the oneyear anniversary of his inauguration as president with dueling demonstrations.
Across the country and around the world, tens of thousands of people marched in opposition to Trump. Among the states
with protests: California, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia and Washington, as well as Washington, D.C.
In Florida, events were held in Naples, Palm Beach, Sarasota and Tallahassee, with more planned for today. Women’s March Florida will have a “Power to the Polls” event from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Mana Wynwood, 318 NW 23rd St., Miami. Speakers include Democratic political candidates. Other events are planned in Gainesville, Jacksonville, Orlando and St. Petersburg.
On Twitter, the president trolled the protesters, many of whom were marching under the rubric of the Women’s March, which held rallies across the country the day after Trump’s inauguration.
Trump wrote that it was a “perfect day” for women to march “to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months. Lowest female unemployment in 18 years!”
In Palm Beach, hundreds of people gathered to show their disdain for the president. They marched from the clock tower memorial on Worth Avenue toward Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club — getting as close as police would allow — to voice a desire for Trump’s impeachment.
About two miles away in West Palm Beach, a far different group of about 50 gathered at the intersection of Southern Boulevard and South Flagler Drive, on the west side of the bridge that is the most direct route from the mainland to Mara-Lago. They were there to show their support for the president.
The president wasn’t anywhere near his South Florida friends or foes. He’d planned to spend one of his frequent winter getaways at Mar-a-Lago for a lavish anniversary party of his presidency, with ticket prices starting at $100,000 a couple.
But he remained in Washington, D.C., because of the partial shutdown of the federal government. Saturday afternoon, the Federal Aviation Administration canceled the airspace restrictions that had been in place around Mar-a-Lago for the weekend, indicating no presidential visit.
Frustration, disdain and a desire to resist were pervasive among the anti-Trump contingent that started assembling before noon near the shops of Worth Avenue.
Marchers rolled a flagdraped coffin that they said was a symbolic representation of the death of democracy under Trump’s presidency.
A group of women dressed as “Handmaids,” characters from Margaret Atwood’s book “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which depicts a world in which women are stripped of their rights.
Other women wore pink “pussy” hats with points for ears — attire that became fashionable among some women around the time Trump was inaugurated. It was a way of protesting what Trump said on the “Access Hollywood” tape that came out during the campaign, on which he could be heard boasting that he felt entitled to grab women by the genitals.
At times, the crowd chanted, “Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go,” “No Trump. No KKK. No fascist USA,” and “We want a leader not a racist tweeter.”
Signs also showed the crowd’s sentiment: “Impeach Trump,” “Deport Donald,” “Jail to the Chief,” “Impeach the Genius,” “Making the Dark Ages great again,” “Mueller is coming,” a reference to the independent counsel’s investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians to influence the 2016 election, and “Orange lies matter,” a mashup of the Black Lives Matter movement and what critics deride as the color of the president’s hair.
“People have the power, and we have to fight for change,” said Paula Slack, 55, of Boca Raton, who came with an American flag to protest Trump.
Michael Arguelles, 32, a nurse who lives in Tamarac, held a sign that read, “The truth will set you free! ... or lock you up!” A pair of toy handcuffs was taped to the sign.
He was never politically active until Trump was elected. “The second he won the election, I became political,” Arguelles said. “I felt like I didn’t have a choice.”
Bianca Chang-Gentile, 54, whose sign proclaimed “Cuban Women Against Trump because we’ve seen this before,” said she considers Trump to have authoritarian tendencies that remind her of the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
Nicholle Cheesman, 42, of Dania Beach, said she was a first-time demonstrator. “It’s my first protest ever. I just feel it’s important to display the public anger and discontent with the current president, who I believe is unfit to serve and quite incompetent,” she said.
She said she had been a regular voter, but hadn’t previously been motivated to get more involved. “It took Donald Trump being elected president for me to finally get out and take a stand,” she said.
Diane Keene, 66, said she drove 21⁄2 hours Saturday morning from Cape Coral to attend the Palm Beach protest. “I’m just outraged at how the county’s image deteriorated. We are a laughingstock on an international level.”
On the other side of the Lake Worth Lagoon, the president’s supporters waved American flags and Trump “Make America Great Again” flags. Many wore “Make America Great Again” caps, popularized by Trump during his election campaign. Several wore Trump shirts.
As cars passed by, members of the crowd shouted various slogans: “Trump train,” “President Trump 2020,” and “No amnesty for DACA; it’s a scam.” DACA is deferred action for childhood arrivals, the so-called “Dreamers” who were brought to the U.S. without documentation as young children, and whose fate is the focus of much of the current fighting in Washington.
Ruth Field Beck of Lantana said she comes often to the intersection at the western end of the bridge that leads toward Mar-a-Lago, and sometimes sees the presidential motorcade when Trump heads to and from the airport or his Trump International Golf Club.
“I love him,” she said, explaining it was “extremely important” to show up Saturday for the one-year anniversary of Trump’s inauguration, and on a day when opponents of the president were demonstrating nearby. “They have the right to do that. I’m just sad that they feel they need to do that.”
Kelly Ruiz of Port St. Lucie said she felt compelled to come to the pro-Trump gathering. “I have to support my president. I love my country.”
Ruiz, 48, said she is thrilled with the president’s performance during his first year in office. “He has far superseded every one of my expectations,” she said, citing economic growth, greater employment in minority communities, and a soaring stock market.
Most important, Ruiz said, “He brought God back to our country.”
She said she has no concerns about Trump’s performance. “None. Zero. I wake up every day with a kick to my step that President Trump is at the helm leading our country,” she said.
Cindy Lavegge to of Boynton Beach shared Beck’s feeling. “I love President Trump. He’s the first president to be totally and completely honest with the American people,” she said. “In his first year he has accomplished more than any other president has within his presidency.
“This is a day to support our president, who has done a wonderful job. With all the negativity he did not let that deter him from his promise to the American people.”
One anti-Trump protester carried a sign proclaiming, “Stormy says hi.”
That’s a reference to news reports that pornographic-film actress Stephanie Clifford, who goes by the name Stormy Daniels, was paid $130,000 before the election, reportedly to keep quiet about a sexual relationship with Trump. The Trump lawyer who allegedly made the payment has denied it.
Laveggeto, 59, doesn’t believe the allegations. “I don’t believe any of the gossip that comes up. I don’t believe any of the garbage they’re trying to muster up.”