Presidential candidate Donald Trump left many Syracuse residents looking forward to a brighter future for the city. Thousands showed up to the rally at the OnCenter Saturday to support Trump’s campaign…but plenty came out to protest as well. And some were just interested in the Trump phenomenon.
Primary Night Reports: 9:00, 10:00 & 11:00 Tuesday on WAER FM 88.3
The crowd had mixed reactions after listening to Trump’s hour-long speech. Syracuse University student Cierra Britton said she was appalled by her experience.
“I was crying. You know, I’m going to school to be an immigration lawyer and we’re talking about building a wall. It’s hurtful. It’s not what this country was founded on.”
On the other hand, Alice Hall and others who attended the rally are confident Trump can bring jobs back to Central New York.
“We’re losing jobs left and right. And we’ve lost some major, major companies that have been here since I was a little girl and now they’re gone.”
Another couple said they are also concerned about jobs...though they weren't entirely sure a Trump presidency was the answer.
“I would like to see business come back. I would like to see jobs for our people. You know, they were saying in there so many of the big businesses have moved out to other countries and they took our jobs and left all these families without the money that they need to support their children and keep our United States going.”
Smiley Burchell plans to vote for Trump.
“Here in Syracuse, jobs. I mean we lost Chrysler, we lost Carrier, we lost GM, and he hit them all.”
The big room wasn’t only filled with thousands of supporters. It was also filled with locals who just wanted to witness one part of what some say will be a historic election.
"My biggest reason to come down here to tell you is I brought the kids down to see our political process in action, and uh, whether they were on the side of Donald or not, it was good for them to see this mess and both sides.”
Steve and Sherry were some of many who had the same intentions and wanted to give Trump the benefit of the doubt before making any final decision.
Despite the large numbers of protestors that came out on Saturday, supporters inside the rally walked away confident in Trump’s campaign. Tuesday's primary election will tell whether those supporters come out to vote.
(A report on Trump's chances and his performance if he became President below)
SUPPORTERS CONFIDENT IN ELECTION WIN, BUT ALSO DEAL-MAKING ABILITY
They are rooting for Trump for a variety of reasons but mostly because of his ability to take control. Many want to see Trump take the general election, not justhe primary, especially against Hillary Clinton.
Crush, defeat, and blow-out are just some of the words people are using to describe their hopes for a Trump presidential victory.
Supporter Smiley Burchell says he’s waiting to see Trump and Hillary face-off.
“Oh I wanna see him run against Hillary. Because she needs to be shot down. She would know she’s in a fight.”
Trump Rally volunteer Alice Hall agrees.
“I think she’s going to put Hillary in her place. Which, she shouldn’t even be running anyhow seeing as she’s under investigation. That’s an outrage that she’s even running for President of the United States.”
Supporters not only have confidence in Trump’s potential win… but Steve believes he can work well with Congress despite the heat from both Republicans and Democrats.
“I think he’d be a lot like Reagan. I think that Reagan had a lot of problems with Congress because they didn’t like him. Reagan went right to the American people. The American people stayed on their Congressmen so much, that’s what made things work. And I think that Trump would be a lot of that because he’s so popular with a lot of American people.”
Many like Alice Hall explained that Trump’s experiences with business negotiations have prepared him to make other major deals for the government.
“I do think they might come around because they might see that he’s an in-charge person. He takes control and I think that’s what this country needs – somebody who’s not afraid to speak his mind and Donald Trump is certainly that man.”
The New York Primary Election is tomorrow. Polls open at noon and will close at 9 P-M. And WAER news will have primary night reports at 9:00, 10:00 and 11:00.
