Presidential candidate Donald Trump made his first campaign stop in Columbus this evening, and both supporters and protesters turned out in large numbers. Trump stuck close to his announced 7pm start time despite the fact that many still waited outside in the Columbus Convention Center hallways.
“We have thousands of people outside, and a lot of them aren’t able to get in,” Trump declared. “This place is packed.”
After rousing the crowd with a couple of OH chants and showcasing his current lead over opponents including a few jabs at Ohio Governor John Kasich’s low polling numbers, the Republican frontrunner got right to work on appealing to his base.
“We’re going to have a good time considering we have a lot of bad subject matter,” said Trump. “We don’t win anymore. But we want to be critics that solve problems and don’t just talk about them.”
Trump spent a good bit of time on the offensive, going after opponents on both sides of the political spectrum, including Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush. When he began to speak more about political issues, he focused immediately on foreign affairs.
“When I started speaking about illegal immigration and the problems it’s causing — the crime and the tremendous difficulties, I took heat like nobody before,” said Trump. “They all wanted me to drop to my knees and say I’m so sorry — I don’t do that, folks. What I said is right, what I said is true, and time goes by and it’s been proven that I was right.”
To much applause, Trump vowed to “knock the crap” out of ISIS.
“They (ISIS) use the internet better than we do,” he stated. “They’re convincing our kids to join ISIS. They go over and fight for ISIS, they hate the United States, and then they come back home and we let them in because we’re so stupid.”
“We’ve become a laughing stock,” continued Trump. “You look at Paris as an example. If some of those folks who were gunned down — if some of those folks carried guns, you wouldn’t have this.”
While the majority of people in the room cheered along with the 60 minute speech, several groups of protestors took a stand by facing away from the stage and reading books, mimicking Johari Idusuyi, a woman who protested the same way two weeks ago during a Trump campaign stop in Springfield, Illinois. Meanwhile, multiple groups gathered outside to protest, waiving signs and reciting chants related to causes ranging from immigration to the Syrian refugee crisis to the defunding of Planned Parenthood to the Black Lives Matter campaign.
For ongoing discussion on the 2016 Presidential Election, CLICK HERE to visit our Messageboard.
All photos by Walker Evans.