WASHINGTON — Madeline Moreira showed up to President Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony Friday with a sign: “Mi presidente #LatinosWithTrump.”

“I don’t think there will be another president in a long time that I am this excited to see inaugurated,” said Moreira, a Cuban-American lawyer from Miami.

One month and one day before Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States, The Washington Post released a tape of Trump telling then-Today Show host Billy Bush that his celebrity status would allow him to “grab (women) by the p*ssy.” Pundits assumed the comment would separate Trump from the female demographic.

Instead, Trump won 53 percent of votes from white women, per FiveThirtyEight. Friday, they celebrated Trump’s victory at the National Mall. During an election in which gender was expected to aid Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, the white female vote instead hurt her bid for president.

On Thursday night, hours before Trump was to be sworn in, protesters marched to Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. As the protests raged, a Trump supporter pleaded with a protester, Samson Saifu, to give Trump time.

“He did say ‘grab her by the p*ssy’,” Saifu said.

“Well, you know what, who doesn’t say that?” said the Trump supporter, who declined to share her name.

“I’ve actually never said that,” Saifu responded.

At the inauguration, women’s reasons for voting for Trump ranged from Clinton’s similarities to former President Barack Obama; the Affordable Care Act and its future under Clinton; to the safety of women under President Trump. Many said they thought Trump would make the country safer for everyone.

One supporter, Cheryl Cowles, said the FBI’s multiple inquiries into Clinton persuaded her not to vote for the former secretary of state. Cowles wore a “Hillary for Prison” sticker and had also stuck one on her “101 President Jokes” book, which she carried in the non-ticketed section of the National Mall. Cowles, from New Jersey, brought her son and her son’s friend to the inauguration.

Cowles said she donated to Obama’s campaigns but had been disappointed by his time in office. She saw his administration as failing the minorities he vowed to help, and thought Clinton’s time in office would largely be a continuation. Extending policies she believes don’t work wouldn’t be productive or helpful, she said.

Many said Trump’s rhetoric was just that, and that they prioritized the economy and the nation’s safety.

“I can definitely tell that he’s not very careful in the way he speaks,” Moreira said. “… That doesn’t necessarily mean that all these crazy things should be interpreted from his off-the-wall comments.”

Published on January 20, 2017 at 10:20 pm

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