Keene is a college town with a beautiful downtown shopping area filled with local stores. At the end of that street, there is a big church and a grassy gazebo. I live in an apartment that overlooks the gazebo and every weekend there are always people outside with signs that say, “End the War” or “Children are not meant for porn.” Two weeks ago, a bunch of eager Biden/Harris supporters were outside with signs, quietly standing in the cold.
Last week, I awoke to yelling outside my window. The chanting and persistent sound of horns finally got me out of bed and I wasn’t surprised when I saw about 20 Trump supporters flaunting their “TRUMP 2020” signs and American flags. They were also yelling phrases such as, “you all love Trump, and Trump loves you!” “Four More Years!” or, my personal favorite, “Kamala and Biden even love Trump! Trump wants lower taxes and more jobs!”
After about two hours of watching them embarrass themselves, I saw two people, about my age, walking into the square with signs. Upon further inspection, I saw that the signs read, “F*ck Donald Trump” and “Trump is a racist.” I started to get worried because the Trump supporters surrounded them and I wanted to make sure they were safe, so I grabbed my mask and went outside.
What happened next gave me a jolt of energy and made me feel proud of my voice. I went over to the women standing alone and I asked if I could hold one of their anti-Trump signs. They gladly handed me one and not even 30 seconds later, the ‘Trumpsters’ came to attack us by yelling with no masks. I politely asked them to keep their distance from me as I am high-risk, which they respected, but then resumed, saying things like, “Are you a liberal? I bet you don’t pay for college, I bet you’re rich! Are you a college student?”
The Trump supporters suddenly became concerned with my well-being and how I was paying for college. I was glad they cared about me and I responded by telling them that this is my second election and was planning on voting blue. I also explained that I was paying for college on my own and was in, “over $30,000 in debt.” I offered to let one lady help me pay for college, but she walked away after that, so I was guess she didn’t want to.
Some people driving by were happy to see our signs in the sea of fascism and hate. They would give us a thumbs up and flip off the Trump supporters or, even better, they would yell, “F*ck Donald Trump” and play the song FDT by YG and Nipsey Hussle on repeat.
However, not all the people driving by were as warm and welcoming. My personal favorite was watching two college-aged boys driving by in their beat-up car with a “TRUMP 2020” flag. At first, they just flipped us off, but proceeded to drive past us…
…8 more times.
I kept yelling at them, “Why are you obsessed with us?” or “It’s the misogyny for me!” Finally, during the 9th time, the driver attempted to spit on us, but was unsuccessful because they were 15 feet away. We laughed at them and they called us “Dirty Liberals,” which is when I asked them if they knew how to spell the word “Liberal.” Instead of responding, they decided it was a good idea to moon us from the backseat. We then flipped him off as they drove away and we, luckily, didn’t see them again.
Most of the male Trump supporters were surprisingly nice. For a while, they were curious and listened when we explained why we support Biden while either nodding or switching to a new subject. At the end of the protest/rally, the men came over to us and thanked us for joining. The older, 45+ aged women were the most disrespectful.
One elderly woman tried hitting my friend with her flag and then used her old age as an excuse to be violent. Another Trump supporter kept invading our space while yelling rhetoric that made no sense. Most of the woman were yelling or blamed us being Biden supporters as the reason why this country is doing so poorly. Whenever we tried to have small talk with them, they would either ignore us or criticized us for being liberals.
Overall, it was an eye-opening experience. My expectations were met, and I wasn’t surprised seeing most of the Trump supporters refusing to wear masks, acting as though COVID-19 was a hoax, blaming the Democrats for everything and yelling, “remember, Democrats are socialists, they want our taxes to be higher!”
It felt like one, long S.N.L skit and I found myself laughing at the pure stupidity around me more than anything.
