Commentary: A Carbon County Family's View of the Trump Rally in Bozeman

By Hayley B.

My husband and I arrived at the rally after spontaneously leaving our home along with our children ages 6 to 16. We arrived to become a part of a very, very long winding line that we could not see the beginning of nor grasp exactly how many people were in front of us. There was a big screen outside showing us what was happening inside, but we were too far away to be able to really see who was speaking or even hear what they were saying. Those in line were from all different walks of life and there was a feeling of camaraderie. We were all there because of our support for President Trump, of his agenda or because we just want a change from the current administration. It didn’t matter what brought us there on that day, it was just evident that we were happy to be there.

President Trump was scheduled to speak at 8:00 p.m. At 7:40 p.m., my family decided to leave the line and go to where the crowd was gathering around the large screen that was out front. There, we were able to hear and see what was happening inside, what we were ‘missing’ out on. While there was definitely foul language from people who passed us (whatever happened to chivalry?), it again just highlighted the different walks of life that were represented in the massive crowd.

The line to enter the rally morphed into a large crowd around us watching the screen. Singing along to songs like I’m Proud to Be an American made me tear up a little. We were all there, proud of this country, singing in unison, and wanting our votes to count in November. We all wanted change.

Attending the Bozeman rally is one way my husband and I are teaching our children to know their candidates, to know how and why to vote (we’re just one election away from our eldest being able to vote). Our goal is to raise good citizens of this country that are informed. We’re teaching our children that a vote is not a valentine you are sending to the candidate, but a chess move you are making in an election to affect how this country is run. Their vote (my vote!) is a wisdom call we are making between the choices offered. It is not a public declaration of our love for a candidate. If we want better choices in the future, we want our children to be involved and even, dare I say, to perhaps consider running themselves someday. Attending this Trump rally was our way of showing by example that to be present at a live rally is not just allowing us to experience firsthand what a Trump rally is like and what goes on, but to listen to what candidates have to say and then follow up by finding the facts on the issues. This involves wading through honest reporting, misinformation and slanted reporting in order to develop one’s own positions.

During our rally experience, a handful of picketers walked by us a number of times carrying signs and chanting anti-Trump statements, claiming that Trump supporters were aligned with the KKK, among other things. I was surprised that no one around us engaged with them. They watched them walk by and we all continued on. Nothing raucous ensued because of their presence, at least not around where we were. They walked with signs, they chanted a few statements, we ignored them, and that seemed to be that.

President Trump appeared on the screen some time long after 9:00 p.m. It didn’t appear that people were agitated that he was later than advertised. I really was surprised how friendly and relaxed President Trump seemed.  His whole demeanor was calming, a stark contrast to the way the media usually portrays him. Later, my 11-year-old son commented how President Trump sometimes didn’t finish his sentences. It was his relaxed candor that we were seeing, a sense of a conversation happening. Trump did not appear to be using a teleprompter. It didn’t even seem that he was really there to rally us around him for support, he was merely stating facts that we already knew to be true. No one needs to tell us that inflation under the Biden administration is felt by the ordinary person—we know. We all knew standing there that we have less money in our pockets and our basic living expenses have gone through the roof; that the dream of buying a house, which once felt within reach, would now only be by some miracle in this current economic season. We all know that when President Trump was in office that this was not the case—we had more money in our pockets and living was affordable.

President Trump praised Tim Sheehy and they declared their mutual support for one another. Not in a snobbish way, but in what I’d call a friendly exchange of reasons and facts clearly laying out what Mr. Sheehy has done and wants to do for Montana and for the citizens of this great state.

Before August 9, my husband and I were already supporters of President Trump, his agenda for this country (even if we don’t wholeheartedly agree with all of it), and the tenacity he has to fight against political moguls for my future and my children’s future. My family came away from the rally with the belief that, if President Trump becomes our 47th president, it will give us a reprieve from what we’re experiencing today and that our country will be more fully equipped for what is to come.