A packed house at Pete’s Greek Town Cafe on East Colfax Avenue was on its feet Friday morning, shouting along with the final lines of President Donald Trump’s inaugural speech: “We will make America great again.”
“It’s nice to have a president who loves America,” one person shouted as the speech, blaring across the room filled with older, mostly white Republicans gathered to watch the 45th president of the United States sworn into office.
At the same time, a swelling crowd of mostly young, female and racially diverse protesters was winding its way through downtown Denver, carrying effigies of the new president and waving signs that called out racism, sexism and mourning “the death of truth, civility, ethics, compassion.”
Like elsewhere in Colorado, reaction in Denver to Trump’s inauguration was a mixed bag. Even at the GOP-organized event at Pete’s.
Betsy Rumel and Mary Willis acknowledged they were among the few in the room at Pete’s not particularly enamored with Trump. They called themselves traditional conservatives yearning for change.
Environmental issues are at the forefront for Rumel, who was upset that Trump did not mention them in his speech. But she added that there is a culture of entitlement in the country that will hopefully swing the other way under this new administration.
“I look at the big picture more than Betsy,” Willis said. A large Trump flag hung in the window behind their heads. “I think it’s important to have a shift.”
Another pair of friends were more optimistic. Suzanne Charrin, a financial consultant, has been working with Herb White for 12 years. White voted for Barack Obama in the past and Charrin said the two would have spirited discussions about politics.
But this time around, Charrin said her friend “finally saw the light.”
White said the pendulum had swung too far. “It was time for a change. The more I listened to the campaign rhetoric, the more optimistic I felt.”
White, like many others at Pete’s, said the protesters in Denver and around the country have the right to express their opinions but said it’s time for the country to unite. Charrin had more blunt words.
“I would like to hand out pacifiers to the protesters so they can have something to bite on for the next four years, just like I had to swallow it for the past eight years,” she said.
A few tables down, Ken Wilkison sat with a bright and large “LGBTQ for Trump” pin. The member of Log Cabin Republicans, which advocates within the GOP for gay rights, said gay people have reached the other side of the battle, noting marriage rights, nondiscrimination laws in most states, and an executive order from Obama that prevents discrimination by federal contractors.
“We elected Donald Trump as a president despite all the misdirection, blatant lies and scare tactics from the left,” Wilkison said, specifically calling out situations with gays, minorities and immigrants. “Donald Trump’s personal history totally counterbalances those claims”
At Johnson’s Corner truck stop in Larimer County, a handful of people crowded around a flat-screen TV in a driver’s lounge watching as Trump became president.
One of them was 74-year-old Dale May, of Loveland, who goes by “Tumblin’ Tumbleweed,” a frequent visitor to Johnson’s Corner who was watching the inauguration with his wife. He has been a Trump supporter since the start and attended one of the new presidentap campaign rallies in Greeley.
“People don’t realize that the Obama administration really sold us out to the Third World,” May, clad in a cowboy hat, said. “The Russians and Chinese — they own us. Have you ever seen a president with so much power before inauguration? It amazes me.”
May, a farmer who moved to Colorado from Kansas in 2009, says he likes Trump’s stance on immigration and business most.
“I look for Trump to bring back jobs,” he said. “I think the economy is going to see some surprises, good and bad. There’s nobody perfect. Theres some things that are going to go down and some things are going to go up. As a whole. I think things are going to go up.”
Gary McEntyre, a veterinarian from Colorado Springs, peered into the driver’s lounge briefly during a stop on his way to take his wife to a doctor’s appointment in northern Colorado. He was a late supporter of Trump after the Republican field of nominees narrowed down.
“I think everybody is going to have to just give him a chance,” McEntyre said. He is hoping, among other things, that Trump is able to bring down what he says are astronomical healthcare costs.
“Hopefully he will do half of what he says he will,” he said.
Timothy Kemp, a veteran and trucker from Washington passing through Johnson’s Corner, said he feels the same. He worries some about the way Trump speaks.
“I did not support him from the get-go,” he said, “but now that he’s it, I accept him.”
Tim Parker, of Loveland, let out an “oh gosh” as he caught a glimpse of the inauguration playing in the driver’s room.
“I am not excited about this president,” said Parker, who had his young daughter in tow and works in social services. “I think he is going to swindle a lot of people.”
Parker said Trump promised a return of jobs to people who need them most in the county. “I just don’t think he’s really going to help those people.”
Parker said he was surprised Trump lost Colorado, considering how much support he appeared to have in northern Colorado. In his neighborhood, Parker says he counted at least five Trump signs and one for Hillary Clinton.
Parker said his wife told their daughters on Friday morning that they don’t have to support the president, but that they should respect the presidency.
