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Trump Draws Plenty of Supporters And More Than A Few Detractors To Nashville Speech

Despite little advance publicity, about 1,000 people turned out for Donald Trump's speech to the National Federation of Republican Assemblies in downtown Nashville.
Chas Sisk
/
WPLN
Despite little advance publicity, about 1,000 people turned out for Donald Trump's speech to the National Federation of Republican Assemblies in downtown Nashville.

Hear the radio version of this story.

Suzanne Ford hadn't planned to see Donald Trump speak this weekend. But when the Springfield, Illinois, woman heard the Republicanfrontrunnerwould be in Nashville at the same time she was visiting relatives, she couldn't pass up the chance.

"Nothing's getting done," she said. "I think that's what the draw with Donald Trump is."

Ford was among the 1,000 or so people who came from across the country this weekend for Trump's appearance before a tea party group in downtown Nashville.

To his supporters, the attraction was as much Trump's style as the substance of his message.

"He's not going to have any outside influences," Ford added, "and somebody needs to get something done in this country."

Trump arrived an hour early for his speech to the National Federation of Republican Assemblies. But there was already an eager crowd waiting outsideRocketowninSoBro when he pulled up in a black SUV.

They showered the real estate tycoon and reality TV star with chants of "Trump! Trump!" Hesigned autographs as his security detail muscled him through the throng.

"Let's go inside and have some fun," Trump suggested.

Beside him, a tall man in a white T-shirt shouted above the crowd.

"I'll be the first person to volunteer one week of my work, if you become president, to help build that wall. And anybody else here..."

A supporter holds up a Trump sign. The GOP frontrunner says, "Illegal immigrants are often treated better than veterans."
Credit Chas Sisk / WPLN
/
WPLN
A supporter holds up a Trump sign. The GOP frontrunner says, "Illegal immigrants are often treated better than veterans."

The rest of Chris Younes's offer was drowned out by cheers. Younes is a truck driver from Murfreesboro. He says he could put his skills to work along the Mexican border, where Trump has suggested a fence to keep people from crossing.

Supporters weren't the only ones to turn out for Trump's appearance. About 200 pro-immigration rights protesters came as well. They hoped to show his brash rhetoric is earning him enemies as well as fans.

Among them was Mario Vargas, a business analyst from Mexico. Holding a battered American passport at his side, Vargas said Trump needs to know that many of those immigrants are voters.

"I am legal. I have citizenship. I am American," he said. "So I want to send a message to Senor Mister Trump and the Republican Party, that we will remember you."

Pro-immigration rights protesters marched through SoBro to show their displeasure with Trump's remarks about undocumented immigrants.
Credit Chas Sisk / WPLN
/
WPLN
Pro-immigration rights protesters marched through SoBro to show their displeasure with Trump's remarks about undocumented immigrants.

Copyright 2015 WPLN News

Chas joined WPLN in 2015 after eight years with The Tennessean, including more than five years as the newspaper's statehouse reporter.Chas has also covered communities, politics and business in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. Chas grew up in South Carolina and attended Columbia University in New York, where he studied economics and journalism. Outside of work, he's a dedicated distance runner, having completed a dozen marathons