Donald Trump’s rally in Grand Junction gave the people of our city a taste of how polarizing the presidential candidate can be. There is no middle ground when it comes to the support of Trump, and that was on display with the support and disapproval of the Republican nominee at the rally.
Like at his previous rallies, people showed up this past Tuesday to West Star Aviation to protest against having Trump as the next leader of our nation. Some did so peacefully, by standing outside with signs, not interfering with people inside the event. However, some were evacuated out after protesting publicly as Trump was speaking.
The idea of a protest itself is an example of the democracy this country provides. When a person is against an idea or act, they are able to take action and show their disapproval. However, the situation and location of the protest could mean that the act of defiance is taken the opposite way the person meant it to, and rather than causing people to change their views, it only adds to their original ideas and beliefs.
When the people were taken out of the rally last week, the crowd surrounded them with jeers, and they only have themselves to blame. They chose to go to a place full of people with a firm idea and attempted to tell those people their idea was stupid and that their leader with the same idea was evil.
Rather than creating an open discussion about the problems people see, the protesters at the rally simply chose to incite a disruptive argument that they would never win. In fact, their actions just allowed Trump to drive one of his points even further.
Yes, the people most likely were not paid by the Democratic Party to come and disrupt the event, but by disrupting the event, Trump was able to take their actions and instill the thought that the people may have possibly been sent on purpose to ruin the rally, and that would just make the people in attendance disagree more with the protester’s message.
Trump supporters see Clinton supporters as lazy millennials that have an entitled mindset. The guerrilla protesters on Tuesday came off as combative, forcing ideas that the majority of attendees didn’t support down their throats in attempts to start a fight.
Is that entitled in its own right? Yes, but the Trump supporters merely saw a couple of young adults who are ignorant causing a disturbance.
Journalists will never disagree with allowing people to have a platform to have their voices heard. However, choosing the wrong platform is not only a waste of breath, but also a risk that is not worth taking.
