I went to a Trump rally as a Muslim-American

As a Turkish-Taiwanese Muslim-American, I am not your typical Republican rally attendee. So I definitely drew lots of attention when I attended a Trump Rally along with a Pakistani and an Indian. We looked like something straight out of a bad TV sitcom. Our mission started out like the beginning of a bad joke — “three brown guys walk into a Trump rally” — but our experience was not something to joke about.

Everyone hears about the massive support Trump commands, but it’s unreal until one comes face to face with the looming mob. The moment we pulled in, the road became a battlefield and the parking lot a war zone for empty spots. Luckily, we eventually found parking, but were quickly discouraged by the impending line of 10,000 people, all of who were ready to declare their undying support for Trump. Despite his bigoted policies and outlandish statements regarding Muslims, Mexicans and women, everyone in attendance seemed ready to pledge their allegiance.

We battled our way to the front of the line, carefully maneuvering past the crowd and occasionally jogging until we finally got to the front, all while ignoring the glares, glances and verbal slurs against us “f — ing brown people.” Between breaths, we whispered cracks about being like “Moses parting the White Sea.”

Immediately, we saw the infamous Donald at work. I heard the petulant man-child’s barks of “throw them out” and the crowd’s roar of approval as I witnessed a group of around 40 to 50 black protestors being escorted out of the building. Although I personally didn’t see much of what sparked the incident, it came soon after Donald Trump’s refusal to disavow endorsements from the KKK, bringing serious questions regarding the divisive campaign Trump is running. I myself felt subjugated to the suspicious watch of law enforcement. We then heard the famous Trump speech where he hit on all of his main talking points: attacking Muslims, Mexicans and China, yelling that we’re “losing at trade” and promoting the outrageous wall. This was all topped off by an endorsement from NASCAR’s CEO, Brian France – a surefire way to gain the crowd’s support.

The crowd was more hyped up than what you would expect from a typical college football game. I still get chills thinking about the booming audience as Trump cried out “AND WHO’S GOING TO PAY FOR IT?!?” with everyone echoing back “MEXICO,” as if Trump somehow had the power to make Mexico pay for the wall. Facts were clearly irrelevant, his speech was merely provocative and clearly just to get the people going.

The rally soon finished. My friends and I quickly scattered to mingle with and interview members of the crowd. We asked people questions such as what their motivations were for supporting Trump and how they felt about Muslims, Mexicans and other minorities. I soon noticed what made the enormous support for Donald Trump all the scarier: they had no definite answer.

Answers almost all repeated the same loaded statements such as “He’s going to make America great again” or “bring back the jobs.” But when asked about his specific policies, few even knew what they were. The one exception was, of course, the wall. Everyone knew about his plans for battling immigration. When asked, few claimed any animosity toward Muslims, some stated that they were friends with a few, and that they should be allowed into the country if we can make sure they’re not terrorists. Surprisingly, we even heard from a couple that “most weren’t bad people.” The supporters could have simply been answering this way since they were talking to three “brown people,” as we were so often referred to as that night, but I’d like to think this reflects good intentions.