SAN JOSE, Calif.—A group of Silicon Valley residents teamed up with an organization called Women For America First (WFAF) and rallied on Oct. 17 to support President Donald Trump and oppose the ongoing impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives.
The rally was part of a nationwide event, March for Trump, organized by WFAF in 47 cities. The reason they organized the event is that the current impeachment inquiry in the House is “in contravention of long-standing House tradition,” states a press release issued by WFAF.
“I love Donald Trump,” said Jan Soule, the president of Silicon Valley Association of Republican Women, adding that the people joining the rally were there to let Trump supporters know that they are not alone in the valley.
Silicon Valley is part of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region where a majority of voters support the Democratic Party.
The rally took place at a corner of the busy intersection between Almaden Expressway and Blossom Hill Road during the late afternoon commute hours. Passing drivers kept honking their horns.
“A lot of people gave us a thumb up,” Soule said.
The impeachment inquiry against Trump was initiated by Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, on Sept. 24. The inquiry began after a whistleblower reportedly alleged that Trump and his top officials had pressured the Ukraine leaders to advance the president’s personal interests.
As of now, two whistleblowers have come forward to report about Trump asking the Ukrainian president to look into the possible corruption of Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden. Joe Biden is currently running against Trump in the 2020 presidential campaign.
The WFAF press release quotes a letter from White House Counsel Pat Cipollone as saying that in this impeachment inquiry, Trump has been denied “the right to cross-examine witnesses, to call witnesses, to receive transcripts of testimony, to have access to evidence, to have counsel present, and many other basic rights guaranteed to all Americans.”
The press release also quotes the letter as saying that the impeachment process “violates the Constitution, the rule of law, and every past precedent.”
The press release adds that the impeachment is just another attempt to “undo the results of the free and fair election in 2016, remove the president from his office, and disenfranchise the votes of 63 million Americans.”
Participants at the rally waved American flags and held signs reading “Trump 2020,” “Stands with Trump,” “Stop Impeachment Now,” “No Spin, No Coup,” and so on.
Linda Rost, who owns a bookkeeping business, told The Epoch Times that she is a Trump supporter. Rost praised Trump for the good U.S. economy and the booming job market.
“I am an employer, and I am giving all my employees raises. I need to do that just to be competitive with other companies,” Rost said.
The current House investigations based on the impeachment inquiry have been focused on whether Trump abused his presidential power by asking foreign leaders to investigate his political opponent.
The WFAF press release states: “There’s absolutely nothing the president has done in the past three years that remotely rises to the level of ‘High Crimes & Misdemeanors,’ the ‘gold standard’ for impeachment set by our founding fathers at the Constitutional Convention of 1787.”
The press release also predicts that the only result the impeachment will bring is to “further divide and embitter an already deeply-divided nation.”
Kat Knowles, a realtor at the rally, said that the reason she joined the rally was that she didn’t think the impeachment inquiry was fair. Knowles said that the purpose of the rally was “to show the president we have his back.”
John Cagliostro, another attendee at the rally, wore a hat with “Trump 2020” printed on it. He also wore a T-shirt reading “Trump Nation.” He said that he drives a truck with signs supporting Trump “all over the place.”
“Every time somebody flips me off, I got a hundred thumbs up,” he said.
Cagliostro is a mechanic who grew up in Saratoga, a small town near San Jose.
“Trump is the most transparent president ever, and he belongs to Mount Rushmore,” he said.
