Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United Sates Friday and some NDSU students were in Washington D.C. to witness it.
Emily Marshall, an emergency management major and student senator representing the residence halls, attended the inauguration with a program she was a part of.
Marshall said the event was “a cool experience.” She said she recommends everyone to go at least once.
Jamal Omar, a microbiology major and the state vice chairman for the North Dakota Federation of College Republicans, attended the inauguration as a way of gaining “an experience that (he) could share with people who not necessarily would get the experience.”
Nate Thoreson, a marketing major and a student senator representing the residence halls, wanted to witness this “super important election.”
Marshall said she remembers hearing Trump speak the words “Muslim terrorists” and struggling to understand how the current president can generalize a group of people like that.
Thoreson said Trump’s common language was used time and time again.
“It felt like another Donald Trump rally, (Trump) said a lot of ‘combat Russia, combat China, bring manufacturing jobs to the U.S., rebuild the inner cities, get rid of Obamacare get rid of the TPP,’” Thoreson said, adding he was disappointed in the redundancy.
Omar saw rioting occur in D.C., with his friend being thrashed by a knife and punched until riot police intervened. Thoreson saw a limousine being burned.
Omar said the rioting provoked a deep disappointment in the U.S. for himself. He said he felt “disgruntled” by the partisanship showing up in the country.
“We are divided more than ever,” Omar said.
“It’s just a game now”, Omar said, referring to the politics at hand behind the riots and partisanship within the political system.
“I’m giving (Trump) the benefit of the doubt, but it’s hard to see that,” Marshall said.
“Donald Trump was not my first choice, I still have the biggest doubts in the world about how he’s going to be,” Thoreson said.
“If you’re going to get things done you have to talk the way he talks and acts the way he acts … tell it to your opponents as it is because in the world you aren’t here to make friends you need to get things done,” Omar said. He added he has confidence Trump will be successful in one way or another.