Trump rally draws students and others on both sides

Wednesday, April 20, 2016 by Gillian Schrader

Last Monday, presidential candidate Donald Trump brought his supporters together for a rally at the Times Union Center in Albany, including a few high school students.

There were almost 20,000 people who filled the arena but not all were Trump supporters; Heather Fiacco, a junior who attends Saratoga Springs High School, said she was there for “the experience” of the rally.

“How many people do you know can say that they saw a presidential candidate speak in person and get to see their people’s reactions?” she said.

Rob Van Avery, the father of a 15-year old girl named Mariah who also attended the rally gave his intellectual opinion on why he is for Trump for the 2016 election coming up in November.

“Trump is looked at in a negative way because of how the media portrays him and some of his supporters that may cause ruckus at his rallies; there is a source of ignorance that is always shown to the American people at home watching him speak. I may not agree with every single policy Trump may put out but I certainly think he is the only person in the race that can make America what it once was.”

Dylan Honis, a junior at SSHS, agreed, saying, “I support Donald Trump because I believe that we need somebody who is anti-establishment in the White House for a change. The actions and decisions of our current government are made for the benefit of the politicians and to keep themselves a job for as long as possible, despite the interests and values of the people. We need someone with the confidence and strength to actually keep their word and protect our constitution unlike these politicians.”

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There were many protestors also attending the rally both outside the arena and inside. Some who were protesting inside eventually got kicked out because of Trump supporters “booing” them which got Trump’s attention because he does not accept any protestors at his rallies.

“The amount of people that showed up to the rally was eye-opening, but even more was the amount of ignorance seen from supporters,” said junior Libby Turco. “It seemed like more of an entertainment show than a political forum.”

There were also some rambunctious outbursts of protestors and violent Trump supporters getting into physical engagements with each other but these were very quickly broken up because of the amount of security involved.

At the Albany rally there were many types of people who were for Trump, against him, or open ears for what he had to say.

“I like Trump because he’s not an average politician,” said senior Wyatt Christy. “I truly believe he means what he says and he is addressing major problems in harsh ways, which has to be done.”