NBC reporter Katy Tur was unfortunate enough to land the joke assignment of reporting on Donald Trump’s announcement that he was entering the presidential race. After attending the golden escalator moment, Tur ended up following Trump around the country for the rest of the campaign, enduring hurled insults—and more substantial objects—at rally after rally. This week, Tur returned to her first Trump rally in two years. And what did she find?
It was my first Trump rally in two years but nothing had changed — the same adoring crowds, same MAGA gear and same “Women For Trump” signs. There were socks stamped with Trump’s face and shirts emblazoned with some new slogans, including: “TRUMP 2020 the Sequel: Make the Liberals Cry Again.” …
Meredith Koehler was wearing a red MAGA hat, dark sunglasses, and a chunky rhinestone necklace. She told me she just needs to go one place for her news: “Fair and balanced. I only watch Fox.”
But Trump’s rally wasn’t the only pit stop Tur made this week. She also dropped in on someone whose rallies she had never attended before—Barack Obama. Obama was in Georgia to support gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, and visiting that rally was like stepping into a whole new world.
Nearly everything about this rally was new to me. The mood, the message, the attitude, the stagecraft, even the clothes the supporters wore were different.
It wasn’t that the people who came to support Obama wore blue hats, or that they had clothing covered in his image. It was that … they didn’t. “Obama supporters came in everyday street clothes.” There was no giant Obama banner over the stage. His name wasn’t even on any of the signs that decorated the hall. The rally was completely lacking in vendors selling messages of hate and signs filled with messages of fear. The people at the Democratic rally weren’t just there to participate in a cult of personality. They were ready to talk about their issues, ready to engage with reporters on multiple topics, excited about the possibilities that come with this election.
The two rallies were like a summary of the country. And as a showcase of the two sides Abrams and Obama were definitely on the side of reason, hope, and honesty.
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At the Abrams rally, the crowd hushed as a hoarse Obama, his voice raspy from being back on the campaign trail, encouraged people to not turn their back on diversity and hope. And Obama warned that failing to check the current climate of fear and lies could lead down a path that would be hard to reverse.
Obama: When words stop meaning anything, when people can just make stuff up and there’s no consequences, democracy can’t work. The only guardian of truth is you. You and your vote.
Just miles away, the Trump rally was a hotbed of the fear Obama warned about. Everyone who Tur spoke with—when they would speak with someone from “the fake news”—said they were worried “about immigration and the caravan.” But it wasn’t just that they were worried about immigration from outside the country. They were also worried that Georgia might become “a haven for liberals.” That was a horror they couldn’t abide.
As Trump took the stage slowly clapping and soaking in the affirmation, the crowd let out an earsplitting cheer that sounded like one long guttural roar. “We won’t go back,” they chanted, followed later by “Trump, Trump, Trump” and “win, win, win.”
Trump began his speech by talking not about the current race, but about Hillary Clinton, leading the crowd in a “lock her up” chant. He then launched into his litany of claims about Democrats—open borders, a massive crime wave, and an end to the Second Amendment. Then he warned that Abrams was going to turn Georgia “into Venezuela.”
Trump in 2018 was Trump in 2016. Except even more so. More lies. More racism. More xenophobia. Even more focused on Trump, even though he was supposedly there to support Republican candidates. And the Trump crowd was right there with him.
In all, the weekend could be summed up in two simple appeals to the base. Hope, Change, and Healthcare, versus Caravans, Guns, and Defiance.
And don’t forget, Democracy vs. Authoritarianism. Because that is what’s at stake.