Jennifer Meyers, a 29-year-old business owner from Scottsdale, cried when Republican Donald Trump won in 2016 and has since switched from Democrat to Republican.
She loved the camaraderie and energy of the pro-Trump celebration called AmericaFest in downtown Phoenix, which she attended all four days, she said.
“I felt guilty about it (supporting Trump) at first,” she said. “It’s a journey. I’m not saying this is where I’ll be for the rest of my life. Right now, the energy feels right for me.”
Meyers said she has friends who live in their cars and friends who are millionaires who support Trump.
“He’s blunt and honest and we’re sick of career politicians,” she said.
Part of the reason she attended AmericaFest, put on by the groups Turning Point USA and Turning Point Action, was to “check my vote” and she found everyone “full of happiness.”
Jeremy Payne, 45, a Montana resident, also was among the thousands in attendance on Sunday, the day President-elect Trump addressed the gathering.
“This event has been a little bit of a culture shock, in a good way. People are so nice and friendly,” he said. “I find it refreshing to be with like-minded conservatives and I’m very grateful to the Lord God almighty.”
Jimmy Guy, 23, a Glendale resident who works in industrial irrigation, wore a red sweatshirt that said “Make America Godly Again.” He attended with his two brothers, Caleb Guy and Braden Guy.
Jimmy Guy said the highlight was seeing Trump in person.
“He’s so willing to connect with people on their level,” Jimmy Guy said of Trump. “He’s not trying to talk over your head so that you miss something.”
Retiree Jeanne Smith of Walkertown, North Carolina, attended with her husband, Frank. Their son lives in Phoenix with their two grandchildren. She wore one of the $5 red Make America Great Again caps with a hairpiece on top resembling Trump’s hair that were being sold at the event
“Trump has given up everything. He could have a wonderful life. He doesn’t have to be doing this,” Smith said. “Trump I think more and more is a man of faith. I don’t know where his energy comes from.”
Here are what some of the other AmericaFest attendees told The Arizona Republic:
Roxanne Bellows is a 60-year-old resident of Dallas who works in the construction industry.
“The highlight was to be around all of these people,” Bellows said of AmericaFest. “It’s like everybody can breathe now.”
Julie Harden is a precinct committee person in Casa Grande and an emergency department registered nurse.
Closing the border is one of the most important issues for her. “I work in the emergency department in Casa Grande. We see dehydrated people, we see people coming through using up the resources that we are giving to prisoners and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and everybody else that makes the emergency room too full for the public in a small community hospital.” People are waiting longer for care every day, she said. “We take care of five and six and 12 ICE patients. We take care of prisoners that come directly from the prison. We see a lot of folks using resources for free. And then our small community hospital is backed by a larger corporation but at some point there is a drain on the system.” Hadassah Patel is a 42-year-old speech language pathologist from Denver. She is not yet a citizen and so therefore does not vote but she’s very excited about the Trump movement. Patel moved to the United States in 2009 from Canada and said she had been “brainwashed” into socialism. In 2020, she met people who were doing “underground work for Trump” and she ultimately determined that the Republican Party “is most closely adhering to the principles of God and being able to uphold the true Constitution, which is based on biblical values.” She believes Trump brings an element of “moral and ethical practice” through his leadership.
“That’s what our country has been missing, most recently is a real adherence to true moral and ethical values,” she said. “I think Trump really has his heart and his mind and his hands, and the work of his hands, and his walk in the right place that provides us with the leadership that says we want to do what’s right and we want to be able to contribute to what’s right and here’s the opportunity to do that.”
Rachel McGill, 38, is from Surprise. “Being there live was just amazing,” said McGill, who is Black. “He said so many things. One of the things that resonated with me the most and what I loved the most about it was the border and making sure that it is shut down. Making sure it is secure and locked. With all the policies that’s going on in America, if our borders are just open there’s nothing that’s really going to be passed that is for our benefit, right? And Trump is stopping that. “I was a Democrat, for a very long time and then after Obama, I was like no. It’s all this brainwashing. All these lies, things they said they would do that they didn’t do. So when Trump came in the first I was like, ‘Yes! Let’s go!’ And now he’s back.”
