President and the people – a love-hate relationship
On the Mall, Andrew Buncombe meets some of the hundreds of thousands who came to see their new political idol – and those who came to protest
Pat Fitzgibbons was seated beneath a statue of General Winfield Scott Hancock and she was clapping her hands. The general, a dirty green colour, looked rather sad. By contrast, Ms Fitzgibbons, from New Jersey, looked positively delighted. It would be a bold person who tried to guess whether supporters of Donald Trump outnumbered those opposed to him on inauguration day. But at the US National Archives, one of the main sites where people were expressing their anger and fury towards the America’s new president, Ms Fitzgibbons was definitely in the minority. “I think we need a change,” she said, explaining why she
voted for him. “I want him to create more jobs and to cut taxes.”
By sharply chiselled contrast, many people gathered at the archives were adamant that they did not even consider Mr Trump their President. As the New York tycoon was sworn in, they booed and hissed, their noise drowning out the words of Mr Trump being broadcast over loudspeakers, as he promised to protect and defend the Constitution. As he spoke, delivering a speech that many believed was more likely to further stoke the US’s divisions rasher than heal them, they shouted out their disagreement. They carried banners and signs, or at least as many as they were able to get past the security check.
“I’m opposed to Donald Trump on a number of levels – both about his tone and his substance,” said Larry Udell, 68, a philosophy teacher from Philadelphia. “And I do not agree with his plan to create jobs by cutting taxes.” Victoria Najlis moved to the US from Nicaragua thirty years ago. Now she works in a health department in Atlanta. She had flown to Washington to voice her opposition to Mr Trump’s fiery and frequently racist rhetoric about immigrants and Hispanics. “The night he was elected, it felt as though somebody in my family had died. There was such grief,” she said. “I am very worried about what will happen to immigrants in this country.”
David Beigel, a child psychologist from Washington, said he believed America had been founded on a idea of fairness towards each other, along with freedom of speech. “We just elected a half-logical narcissist who wants to turn things back to the 1950s when any sort of dissent got met by McCarthyism,” he said. Betsy Andrews had travelled from New York with two friends. She said all three of them were gay. She said: “He is anti-women, anti-immigrant, anti-women, a sexual assaulter – [Mr Trump has denied a number of accusations of sexual assault] – and he has appointed people to his cabinet who are just going to make sure more money goes to the wealthy.”
However, while some Trump supporters were looking to keep a low profile, others sought to enjoy the historic day as much as possible. Trump supporter Brett Ecker said the protesters were frustrating but weren't going to put a damper on his day. "They're just here to stir up trouble," said the 36-year-old public school teacher. "It upsets me a little bit that people choose to do this, but yet again, it's one of the things I love about this country."
Others had spoken of their excitement over Mr Trump becoming President. Chris Lehmann, 55, a maintenance supervisor from Belmar, New Jersey, said: "I'm so excited, I'm like on top of the world." Eleanor Haven, 83, of Alexander City, Alabama, was attending the festivities with her son, Scott Haven. The pair said they had never been to a political event before attending a post-election tour rally for Mr Trump in Alabama, but were hopeful that things would change in the US. "We're excited for changes in the country," Scott Haven said.
"I'm here for history," said Kevin Puchalski, a 24-year-old construction worker who drove from Philadelphia. "This is the first president that I voted for that won."
“We came because we’re Trump supporters,” said Tom Campbell, a service technician from Yorktown, Virginia. “We voted for him because we did not want Hillary Clinton imposing her liberal agenda.” And what policies of Mr Trump did he particularly like? He said: “His plan to build a wall and his plan to bring jobs back to America.”