"It’s not Trump who worries me as much as it is some of the people who support him."

The Arlington National Cemetery woman who was verbally and physically abused declined to press charges for fear of retaliation by Trump supporters. Her fears are shared by this Black reporter for the Arizona Republic. It is not just Trump, they are the problem.

I'll never attend another Trump rally, in Arizona or anywhere

From a condom seller to an angry woman pounding on my car window, Trump attracts supporters to his rallies who are - how do I say this? - 'weird.'

 I’ve covered politics for much of the last 20 years, including Trump campaign rallies, and I’ll never do it again.

It’s not about Trump.

...

...Trump’s supporters are often, well, weird. 

I don’t say that lightly. ...

...

...some of my closest friends are Trump supporters. I attend a predominantly white evangelical Christian church, and Trump bumper stickers aren’t hard to spot. (Although, as one of the few African American congregants, I’m probably just as easy to pick out in the parking lot.)

These are good people who oppose abortion from the depths of their souls, and they can speak reasonably about complicated issues. To have the opportunity to learn from them is a privilege, even as we disagree on whether Trump is fit to guide the nation.

My problem is with the Trumpers who — how can I put this delicately? — like to get a little rowdy.

You know, the ones who show up at polling places armed for combat? Or the ones who tried to take over the U.S. Capitol in a deadly riot? Or the ones who carried tiki torches through Charlottesville?

Sometimes, the people at Trump rallies are kind of funny.

Consider the older Black woman, an entrepreneur of the highest order, who was selling Trump condoms outside an event in Milwaukee in 2016. The prophylactics were $5 each, and they said “Trump” in big, bold letters.

She was screaming, “Trump condoms! … Next time you get that rump, think of Trump!”

Weird.

I don’t know what else to call it.

Or the white woman selling Trump T-shirts and Confederate flags from the back of her truck at a Phoenix rally in 2020.

I was sitting in my car across from her tent, talking on the phone to a source, when she came over to my window, knocking violently, demanding to know what I was doing there and threatening to call the police.

She had no authority to question me. And given the state of race relations in the nation at the time, she was trying to use the police to bully me for simply existing within her line of sight.

Again, weird.

For me, I can’t understand how conservatives of conscience could allow a candidate like Trump to represent them. Or at least why they aren’t louder in demanding he stop dog whistling to these weirdos.

So, I won’t be going to the border on Thursday or the rally on Friday.

I love my job.

But I love my safety and sanity more.

Trump doesn't worry me as much as they do

I’ll watch the videos of what he says, and if there’s good reason for me to give my opinion, I will.

Again, it’s my job.

But it’s not my job to put myself in harm’s way, even if I still regret not buying one of those condoms as a souvenir. (I just wasn’t about to walk past the “Hillary for Prison” T-shirts with AK-47s printed near her name to get one.)

It’s not Trump who worries me as much as it is some of the people who support him.

They’re the reason I don’t intend to ever go to another Trump rally.