Supporters of Donald Trump staged a rally in West Hollywood this evening that was as much a protest against Mayor Lindsey Horvath’s declaration that Trump isn’t welcome in WeHo as it was a show of support for the contender for the GOP presidential nomination.
About 30 people carrying signs proclaiming “Trump, Make America Great Again” and “Fighting for Freedom of Speech” gathered on the southeast corner of Santa Monica Boulevard at San Vicente just after 6 p.m. Jake Lee, a West Hollywood resident, said Horvath’s statement, mailed to Trump and then published in the Advocate magazine on March 28, inspired him to organize the rally.
“Lindsey Horvath took it upon herself to ban Trump and that really pissed me off as an American citizen,” Lee said. “I was born and raised in West Hollywood. I still live in West Hollywood. Throughout my life I’ve seen my gay friends struggle to be who they are as conservative and Republican without being blackballed. People should be able to be who they are without fear in this city.”
“I’m tired of being called a bigot and anti-immigrant,” Lee said. “My mother is a Mexican immigrant, but she’s legal. Mr. Trump supports legal immigrants.”
Lee said the reaction from drivers streaming along Santa Monica during rush hour was largely positive. “A lot more thumbs up in support than opposed,” he said.
However Ernie White, spokesman for Californians for Trump, who attended the rally, said he was surprised at the racist and homophobic comments from passersby.
“We were called bad fagg-ts and nig-ers,” said White, who is African-American. His statement was verified by a young gay man standing next to him. “At all the rallies I’ve been at, I’ve never heard anyone use those words, just in West Hollywood.”
In her statement, Horvath decried what she described as “hate speech and implicit calls to violence coming from your campaign.” She said that has “no place in any community in our country…
“With the primary making its way to California, as West Hollywood’s mayor, I want to make very clear that your campaign of violence and intimidation is not welcome in our city.”
Horvath’s statement has attracted national attention, with stories in The New York Times and the Washington Post and interviews with her by MSNBC and CNN. It also has drawn criticism from those who say it is an unconstitutional effort by a government official to limit freedom of speech.
I can’t believe anyone would support Hillary Clinton. She lied about Benghazi, she screwed up our relations with almost everyone and she is in the pocket of Goldman Sachs who just agreed to pay billions of dollars in fines due to their criminal behavior after the banking industry was de-regulated. And lets not forget who signed that legislation. None other than Bill Clinton who was also in the pocket of Goldman Sachs. Campaign contributions are nothing more than bribes and only one presidential candidate has not accepted those bribes, Donald Trump. Donald Trump may seem to be abrasive in the… Read more »
This is the smallest, most sorry-looking group ever. I count 14 Trump supporters and one interviewer. Where’s Cait?
While I agree that free speech should be highly protected, I understand also that the city doesn’t want any of the violence and hate speech that these Trump rallies usually bring on as we have seen numerous times.
Clearly, not everybody being born gay is automatically an atheist liberal – everybody has a right to their own belief. Let them express it as long as it stays civil.
Violence by Tump supporters? It was in Orange county this week that a anti-Trump demonstrator that Pepper Sprayed Trump supporters and children. Freedom of speech most not be in the liberals vocabulary and beliefs.
One wonders whether the potential indictments for a range of issues will appear before the presumed nomination, after and before the general election or after, heaven forbid the Trump Trickster is elected following the equally possible indictment(s) of Hillary Clinton. What strange webs folks weave in the world of political smoke and mirrors. Previously the Supreme Court had to weigh in on Gore/Bush, so who is likely to entangle whatever ensues?
Babcock: Cy backed up everything with links to his sources, I only see nonsense from you posted! Let’s see Donald Trump was a nightmare landlord in the 1980s, his business ventures were failures or outright frauds like Trump University or his real estate and he made money by suckering investors into his scams. http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2016/03/11/trump-mortgage.cnnmoney/ Trump came out throwing Mexicans and Muslims under the bus politically speaking, just to get the republican racist vote. TRUE that Hilary is a zionist shill who has supported wars and oppression in Gaza but there is another option, someone who has not sold out and… Read more »
Cy Hussain above listens to the DISHONEST LIBERAL WEST WING PRESS WHO’S RUINING THIS COUNTRY and driving it into bankruptcy, and into the ground. CY should start educating himself by reading facts from the CBO, GAO, BOLS, (which I’m sure he doesn’t know or is educated to know what they’re) I’m sure he’ll have to google them to find what they stand for-, and the White House Office Of Mgmt and Budget. I’ve friends who work for Donald Trump gay, straight, women- ethnic etc. He’s is the best boss and treats his employee’s like gold with the best benefits. His… Read more »
Babcock: Vast generalizations and hearsay are precisely that. As in Republican & Democratic administrations and campaigns, few look beneath the surface or follow the continuum of issues evidencing the causes and solutions. It’s a complex history. However, in your unfailing allegiance to Mr. Trump, with whom you have no real personal connection, it would be good to point out why there appears such a substantial disconnect in his basic character and methodology. If one were to pierce the elaborate financial enterprise known as Trump and primarily engineered through the expertise of Kenneth Leventhal & Co. One would see a different… Read more »
I’m disappointed, The RNC could have at least rolled out the Orange, comb-over carpet for this auspicious event?!?
To whom it may concern, the red print on the article are Hyperlinks that lead you to sources that I cite for claims being made! I noticed the right-wingers are extremely reluctant to cite any sources, could it be that just about the ONLY ones that back their positions are the very same ones run by known hate groups? 🙂 I fully support the rights of the republican lemmings to run off the Donald Trump cliff!
the following sums up many of the previous comments;
republiicans are evil, abortion rocks, later term abortions are fun, bette midler is brilliant and incisive, what have i left out? 🙂
oh yeah, trump is hitler, blah blah.
hate is all you have, and it’s a such a bore.
Steve Martin,I think that one can legitimately reject both Trump Cruz with good reason. Trump is an aging egomaniac & Cruz is a dangerous psychopath & they both are out-of-control control freaks. It’s true that given a choice between only the two, I would choose Trump, but they both are a sad commentary on what the Republican party has to offer up as candidates. What surprises me, though perhaps in retrospect it shouldn’t, are the Wehoans who, as a result of the recent “Trumpgate” debacle. came out not only in protest of the proposal to ban Trump from WeHo, with… Read more »
If you don’t like Donald Trump, just wait until the Republican Party selects Ted Cruz as their standard bearer. Trump is scary; Cruz is terrifying.
Bette Midler recently tweeted a quote she found which compared GOP racist, sexist, bigoted warmongering presidential candidate Donald Trump, to a characterization out of the American classic novel Catch-22. The book was written by Joseph Heller over fifty years ago. After reading the quote and comparison, I clearly see republican lawmaker Ted Cruz and other GOP extremists in Heller’s words below: “It was miraculous. It was almost no trick at all, he saw, to turn vice into virtue and slander into truth, impotence into abstinence, arrogance into humility, plunder into philanthropy, thievery into honor, blasphemy into wisdom, brutality into patriotism,… Read more »
Those who worry about the count of people- are they trying to dare Trump to being in the 1,000’s he brings in, record numbers in most every venue? What is the point on focusing on the numbers: the issue is about who is being the true “bigot” and “discriminatory” and the reality is: it is the MAYOR are violating our Constitutional rights to assemble and speech.