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Cadillac Donald Trump Visit Draws Thousands of People, Many Protestors

Donald Trump’s rally brought out thousands of supporters to Cadillac.

…But also attracted people who oppose his campaign.

9&10’s Cody Boyer and photojournalist Jacob Johnson spoke to a few protesters and other attendees at the rally.

They have more details.

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Every protestor we talked to said they were proud to exercise their first amendment rights.

Many say the attention brought a boost to the area.

Still, many opposed Trump’s message.

“This is a big deal for my hometown,” says Donald Koshmader, who attended the rally. “Probably more of a big deal than KISS coming to Cadillac."

Thousands of people braved the chill to see — or hear — Donald Trump in Northern Michigan.

Many made it inside the Wexford Civic Center, or the Wex.

Others did not.

"I wanted to stand here for those of my friends and former co-workers that could not be here today," says Joyce Oatley, Cadillac resident who came with a group from the United Church of Christ.

Joyce Oatley and Ruthann French were among groups of protestors outside.

“I’m in favor of no walls,” French says. “Let’s build bridges."

“I don’t think he’s a very good representative of our political process,” Oatley says. “It’s an embarrassment to me as a citizen of this country."

Others who supported Trump came in full force.

George Darmis from Houghton Lake hand-printed t-shirt designs to support Trump.

“You wouldn’t think he would come here because of the numbers,” Darmis says. “This is my way of hopefully contributing to Donald Trump’s campaign."

Others who traveled to see Trump, like Corinne Bass of Manistee, were not necessarily fans.

“I just wanted to see the man that America has been talking about in person,” Bass says.

Bass says she wanted to see Trump but is not supporting him.

“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous,” Bass says. “I think for some reason he thinks his money makes him better than everybody else and he’s absolutely insane."

Protester or supporter… they mostly agreed the attention to Northern Michigan was good.

“I think it’s cool that Cadillac has something bring a little attention, nationally, internationally but I really don’t agree with the message,” says Cadillac-native Rick Gebhard. "We think the idea should be to bring people together, not to divide them apart and we don’t believe in putting up a wall."

People waited for Trump to greet them outside after the rally but he left before doing so.

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