President Donald Trump held a rally in North Charleston on February 28th at 7:00 pm. Davis and I had the opportunity to report as part of the press on this event and interview many of his supporters.
Once our credentials were approved before the rally, we grabbed our camera and prepared some interview questions. Then on Friday morning we headed over to the event.

We arrived at the North Charleston Coliseum at 9 AM and were let into the arena by a lady who was with the White House.
We went in and set up our tripod and camera on the third tier. In front of us we saw NBC, CNN, FOX News and many other news sources setting up. After we set up we went outside and interviewed the Trump supporters who had already secured their place in line as of 9:30 AM. We asked them questions such as why they believed that there are so many people willing to wait hours, even days to hear him speak. One man who had been waiting there 72 hours spoke very highly of Trump and spoke of the positive impact he has made on our country. To see the full interviews and video, make sure to watch AMHS Student News on March 5th.

Throughout the day, the energy was undeniably full of excitement and love. Many people believed that the rally would be violent and full of hatred, but that was not the case at all. North Charleston was filled with Trump supporters who were all filled and bonded by patriotism.

We went back inside the Colosseum at 2:30 and did not leave again until after 9 pm. Once we reset our camera and secured our position with the press, we watched news anchors next to us report live from the event about what they expected the night to bring. Davis and I then headed to the floor among the supporters to see what the rally experience was like through their view. On the floor, we were very close to the podium President Trump would be speaking behind and the feeling of excitement from others around us was very apparent. The energy felt like everyone was waiting for a concert with their favorite singer. There was music playing, chants being cheered, and there were some speakers such as Henry McMaster leading up to the arrival of the president.

Once it was 6:30 we headed back to the press pit for the rest of the night. The music continued to play and the suspense built in the arena. Once Donald Trump made his appearance, the crowd erupted. However, the media had little reaction, many of them had been to many rallies, they guy beside us had been to 69, and so they were not phased by what the president had to say. President Trump talked for about 2 hours. He called Senator Tim Scott and Lindsay Graham onto the stage; he spoke about the coronavirus ;he analyzed the chances the Democratic nominees had of winning, and spoke of his accomplishments. This was all interrupted by cheers of “4 more years” and “Make America Great Again”. The whole stadium was filled with so much excitement and the energy felt like we were seeing a celebrity. The president then pointed out the press pit and talked about the media and criticized many stations, even Fox news for being fake. Trump claimed that the media only shows himself during the broadcasting of the rallies. They never show how the stadium is filled with so many supporters. He asked the media to pan the camera around the room to report on how there were so many enthusiastic supporters attending the rally. However, not many reporters listened to his request, and no one really reacted as they seemed to be used to these comments.

Once the president exited, we packed up our stuff while we watched other reporters broadcast from the stadium and do a debrief of the rally.
Going to a Trump Rally is an experience in itself, but being part of the press pit brought a whole different perspective.