Cincinnati, OHIO—Walkaway campaign founder Brandon Straka said on Aug. 1 that Americans would not find unity and collectivism if Democrats were to come into power. He added that the party wants “us to be more divided than ever.”
“I don’t believe we are a racist country,” he said ahead of a “Keep America Great” rally in Cincinnati, Ohio. “I think we are a nation that has overcome unbelievable, almost insurmountable obstacles. But we have done that through conversation, open dialogue, debate, a free exchange of ideas, and our constitutional system and our system of government.”
He continued, “I don’t think that America is perfect. No one is saying America is perfect. We’re just saying that America’s great. It always has been great, and it will continue to be great. Great does not mean perfect.”
“We have a long way to go, but we certainly are not going to find that unity, and we certainly are not going to find that collectivism if the Democrats take over control. They want us to be more divided than ever,” he added.
President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are expected to address the crowd tonight. The arena has a capacity of over 17,000 seats. Trump supporters lined up hours before the 7 p.m. start outside U.S. Bank Arena, with some even camping outside the arena days ahead of the rally.
In recent weeks, Trump has faced criticism as being a “racist” over a series of Twitter posts where he called out several progressive congresswomen for their anti-semitic and anti-American rhetoric. More recently, he was slammed by opponents for calling out Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) in a series of tweets. The tweets underscored problems in his district in Baltimore, Maryland, including squalid conditions and high crime rates.
Straka said he thinks the Democratic party has become “too extreme and unrecognizable” for people who used to support it. He said it’s “befuddling and confusing” that Democrats want to offer free healthcare, and free college, to who people are coming into the United States illegally. They also want to eliminate their student loans.
“They want to do away with criminalizing crossing our borders illegally, which essentially makes it legal to come into the country, put a stake into the ground and say I live here now,” he said. “That’s not how it works.”
“As if that’s not bad enough, they’re also saying for people who come here illegally ... we‘ll also give you free healthcare—we’ll pay for it. We‘ll give you free education—we’ll pay for it.
“We’ve got Americans in this country who are living on the street. We have veterans in this country who don’t have a home, who don’t have good healthcare. Why are we so concerned about people all around the world when we haven’t even taken care of our own yet?”
Another supporter of Trump, Ron Calhoun, from Independence, Kentucky, shared similar sentiments saying that he “loves immigrants” but does not “support illegal immigration.”
“We hope that people can become Americans and become part of the system. We don’t support illegal immigration, illegal aliens, because it floods our services. But we would like to reform immigration so that it is fair,” he said.
He added that he understands why people criticize Trump, but his supporters agree with Trump’s principles.
“The first three months that he was in office, people would criticize him because and say that he doesn’t act like a politician. And my wife would always say, that is why we elected him. He is crude, he is rude, but he has some principles that he sticks to, and we support the principles that he sticks to,” Calhoun said.
He praised Trump for resolving the tense situation with North Korea and achieving peace between the two Koreas.
“He helped end the Korean war. Those are phenomenal things. I think it’s safer today because he is president,” he said.
