Supporters, protesters line 32nd St. as president arrives in Yuma
SUN STAFF WRITER
Dozens of people gathered along 32nd Street near the Yuma County Fairgrounds on Tuesday to show their support for President Donald Trump or to protest his arrival.
Although it was sunny and hot, nearly 100 degrees by 10:30 a.m., no one seemed to mind.
While many participants chose to stay in their airconditioned cars, some of which were adorned with U.S. flags and banners supporting the president, others stood in the heat along the roadway holding posters with messages such as “Trump is the disease. Voting is the cure,” and “Resist racism Defeat Trump.”
There were also the occasional cheers from supporters of, “Four more years.”
Blake Swenson said he supports the president and believes he is changing the country in a very positive way.
“It is a tremendously exciting day for me. I can’t put it into words,” Swenson said. “For President Trump to come to a small town like Yuma, and have this much of a turnout is a testament to what he is trying to accomplish.”
Swenson added that when President Trump visits a community it always seems to generate a lot of enthusiasm, whether a person is a Republican or a Democrat.
In reference to the border wall, Swenson said he also believes that Yuma plays a big part in what the president is doing to strengthen national security.
Liz Haskell, with the group Yuma County Indivisible, said she and her two-dozen or so fellow protesters consider President Trump a “clear and present danger” to the country.
She said by protesting they hope to send a message that not everyone in Yuma supports President Trump, especially when it comes to the border wall.
“It seems like he is wasting billions of taxpayer dollars to build a monument to racism and fear,” Haskell said. “He is dividing our community, which has always been united with Mexico.”
Haskell also criticized the president for his handling of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, saying he originally referred to it as a hoax.
“He has turned this into the Black Death. There is no reason for the United States, with all of its richness, to have an uncontrolled pandemic that is killing so many people within the country,” Haskell said.
While she personally believes President Trump’s politics to be divisive and destructive, Haskell added that whether someone is for or against him, what matters most is that everyone is an American, and people need to work together to move the country forward.
“We have got to find a way to talk to each other again and bring back civility and kindness to overcome the country’s problems,” Haskell said. “We need to have everyone working together to find a common ground. We can’t do it by squaring off against each other.”
Robert Bourassa, and his partner of 41 years, were also among those who gathered along 32nd Street, and said they both support President Trump and will continue to do so.
He explained that back in the 1980s Trump was the only businessman in New York City to donate money to help form the Gay Man’s Health Coalition.
He was also the first president in American history, according to Bourassa, to have a pro-gay campaign.
“Not Obama, not Bush, not Clinton, but Trump,” Bourassa said. “I believe there is so much misinformation being spread about him that if more people knew the truth they would support him rather than protest against him.”
As for Trump’s reason for coming to Yuma, Bourassa said it is to fulfill a campaign promise to his supporters, which was to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
“I think Trump is one of the best presidents this country has ever had because he is getting things done,” Bourassa said. “The man said he was going to do something and he is getting it done.”
Trump’s visit to Yuma Tuesday came at a time when the city is experiencing a dramatic surge in reported cases of COVID-19, which has quadrupled since the start of the month.
Although the Yuma City Council passed a vote on Friday to add a requirement for the use of face coverings in public, about half of the people who turned out for the president’s arrival were not wearing one.
The Yuma Police Dept. said there were no reports of any disturbances during Trump’s visit here.