Amidst another round of scandals for the 2016 election, local Donald Trump supporters would not waver from their loyalty to the Republican Party’s presidential nominee.
With a loaded docket of events going on during the weekend in the Tri-Cities, Carter County was a hotbed of action as the Carter County branch of the Republican Party supporting Donald Trump for president hosted their second event at the Elizabethton VFW to raise support for the nominee, while also assisting the local organization. The event featured a community expo for small businesses and the “Miss America the Beautiful” pageant.
“With this event and our last one in February, I’d say we’ve raised over $700 for the VFW,” Carter County for Trump co-chair Lora Owens said. “The VFW has been incredible to work with. Our last event, the group helped place ramps on one of their members’ house. He and his wife were disabled and not too long after that, he passed away. The VFW always does a great job of working with our local veterans and that’s one of the reasons we chose this location. Donald Trump has been a supporter of our troops since day one. Our military is the smallest it has been and he’s promised to work with our veterans and our troops.”
The issue of safety is one Kay White, with the Upper East Tennessee Campaign, said she hears about while campaigning for Trump.
“The number one issue I talk about with everyone is our safety,” White said. “Without safety, education and economics doesn’t matter. We won’t be here, they will blow us off the map. We’ve got to stand with someone who will take care of our safety and make us a future.
“This event is wonderful,” White continued. “Our veterans have supported Donald Trump. They know he will make the military strong again. He will also make their benefits better and be honored in hospitals. Our veterans have protected us and Donald Trump will honor them. I just think that’s so important. My husband and I have a nephew that passed away in Afghanistan. With the suffering and the tears, people were lining up on the road to honor our family. These men are giving their lives, risking their lives and we need to do what we can to show our support to them.”
Saturday’s event was held just one day after a video of Trump surfaced from 2005 speaking in a derogatory term about women. With the recent news, the local support would not die off in the area, according to White.
“Let’s get out of living in the past,” she said. “People are bringing up things from his past, but let’s move forward. We all make mistakes. Let’s go toward the future and make America great again under a true leader like Donald Trump. Today shows that all the bad press that they’ve given to Mr. Trump, people are still excited. They still want to see someone who is about our country. Donald Trump, from everyone who loves America’s point-of-view, has done all he can to rebuild America and put people to work. Whereas Hillary, on the other side, has already proven she’ll pad her own pocket to make herself great, not to make America great again.”

Hearing the amount of support, whether it be inside the VFW or motorists honking in agreement with different volunteers holding signs supporting Trump, White said she appreciated the effort into the event by Owens and co-chair Amy Simmons.
“They did the same thing during the primary and they are marvelous,” White said about the duo. “I have 14 counties that I’m over. I have another girl down in Hamblen County that is great, two others in Grainger County that are just wonderful but they haven’t put on events like this. Each county puts on different events, contributing in different ways, but I just love this in Carter County. They draw in the whole community. To me, the excitement of just involving the community shows the love for the country and community. I think this is wonderful, I wish I just had a whole lot more like them.”
Simmons, who played an integral part along with Owens in the event, added she appreciated the support from attendees to make Saturday a successful day.
“It was a busy day around the area,” Owens added. “With all the different events like the storytelling in Jonesborough, the Apple Festival, the UT game and rain, we were still able to get in a good amount of people during the day. This is a very important election for our country. We can’t keeping going in the way we have been. If we aren’t able to elect a Republican president, we can lose the senate, Congress and a Supreme Court justice nominee. This is an important election and we’ve seen what type of policies Hillary has. We can’t have four more years of what Obama has done to our country.”
Owens added that Hillary’s actions means more than Trump’s word and stated she felt encouraged about the amount of signs that have been provided from the events and the different signs being showcased across the county.