Column: Donald Trump comes to Lancaster County

Because Pennsylvania is one of the three most influential swing states in presidential elections, both campaigns have visited on numerous occasions. I was fortunate enough to have seen Mike Pence at the Lancaster Host Resort in August, but it wasn't until this month that I actually saw the Republican nominee. On October 1, Donald Trump held a rally at the Spooky Nook Sports Center in Manheim, and I attended the event with a few friends of mine who are far more supportive of Trump than I am.
Pierson Caster's photo of Donald Trump at the recent Spooky Nook Sports Center rally.
We spent five and a half glorious hours standing in line. Once we entered the area in which the rally would take place, we waited another hour for the event to begin. Lloyd Smucker, Scott Martin, and Otto Voit each spoke about the threats facing our country and why we have an obligation to elect Republican candidates in all levels of government.

Because of bad weather, Donald Trump arrived at the rally slightly late...like an hour and a half late. When he came onto the stage, everyone jumped to their feet in order to get a glimpse of the orange man himself. It appeared as if he were reading a teleprompter 30% of the time, for the majority of his speech consisted of nothing but rambling. For example, he blamed his horrible debate performance from earlier in the week on a bum microphone. Then, when talking about trade, he said, "They don't make movies like they used to. What a difference!"

If there was any one prevailing theme throughout Donald Trump's speech, it was the idea that he is not an establishment candidate and that Hillary Clinton is: "Clinton and her cronies will say anything, do anything, lie about anything to enrich themselves and keep their grip on power. The American people have had it with decades of Clinton corruption and scandals." He continued to bash the Democratic nominee mercilessly. It was quite entertaining! He told the audience, "Hillary Clinton's only loyalty is to her financial contributors and to herself. I don't even think she's loyal to Bill if you want to know the truth."

All in all, it was your typical speech by Donald Trump. It had its fair share of self-worshiping, Obama-criticizing, and Clinton-insulting. Trump closed his speech by stating, "We are going to do something that this country has never seen before. This movement is special; the people are special. We are going to make America wealthy again. We are going to make America strong again. We are going to make America powerful again. We are going to make America safe again. And we are going to make America great again." It was certainly an interesting event, but it did not change my view of the presidential candidate in the slightest.


Disclaimer: I am a Republican who believes in conservative values, such as limited government and liberty. I don’t support Donald Trump. I just don’t support Hillary Clinton more. My problem with Trump is not so much his proposals but rather his lack of principle.

The opinions of the stated author does not constitute an official position of the Lampeter-Strasburg School District or of the LS News editorial board.

--Pierson Castor, LS News Columnist
Edited: AZ

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