If only he could tweet a little less. Sitting on the ground, Paul and Eliza Hallman adore Donald Trump but they have advice for the American president: "Put the brake pedal on the Tweet. " Like several thousand followers, the couple awaits the arrival of the "tweeter-in-chief" on Friday, February 21, at the convention center in Las Vegas, Nevada. "It's his only flaw", says Eliza Hallman, in the slight accent she has kept from her native Philippines.
Eliza, secretary at the University of Nevada, is "Legally arrived" in the United States, she insisted, in 1987, at the age of 23, and fully approved of Trump’s immigration policy. In the fall of 2019, she went on vacation to Italy. "The Vatican, too, has a wall", she underlines. The couple do not entirely agree on the height of the enclosure that protects the pope, but one thing seems clear to them: the American economy is in full swing. "I've never seen anything like it", says Paul Hallman, a trainer at a company that passed on, he said, the tax cuts voted by the Republicans.
The assembly is dressed in red from head to toe. Apart from a bad-tempered pensioner – " Hurry ? You are sick! " -, the atmosphere is almost good-natured, the music cheerfully resumes. No rap, but classics – The Best by Tina Turner or even My way by Frank Sinatra, in tune with part of the audience, especially the one who is desperately looking for a chair to rest.
In one state – one of five in the United States – where whites are no longer an absolute majority, minorities are clearly underrepresented in the audience. To compensate, the Trump-Pence 2020 volunteers are distributing the most ecumenical signs everywhere: "Latinos for Trump", "Black for Trump"…
The posters "Women for Trump" are out of stock. Women are omnipresent. One sports a T-shirt "Make AOC bartender again", inviting Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the young progressive girl from New York, to return to her first job as a waitress. Another wears an elegant red frock coat to match the cap "Make America great again", sold 30 dollars (27 euros) at the back of the room.
Everyone is benefiting
For anyone who arrives from the democratic country, the cultural gap is intense. When asked about their feeling towards the president, everyone has the same answer: "I just love this guy": "I like this guy. " Against all odds. Three years later, like on the first day. "He’s someone great"says Rebecca Monzello, wearing a T-shirt where she wrote by hand " Lesbians for Trump "(Which will result in her being invited to the platform by the organization).
