Supporter: Trump 'honestly loves America'

People lined up by the thousands outside the Mississippi Coliseum Wednesday afternoon to hear Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Amid the sprinkling rain, people donned ponchos and umbrellas to get a glimpse of the presidential hopeful.

Rhonda Smith, of Baton Rouge, said Wednesday’s speech would be her fifth time seeing Trump.

Wearing a hat signed by the presidential hopeful, Smith said she “screamed and cried” to get Trump’s attention.

“I’m here to show my support and I’m here because Trump honestly loves America and he honestly loves the American people,” she said. “I believe in him and I want him to succeed and I want him to be so awesome for America and I know he will be, we just have to get him in the White House.”

Smith said at each event she’s attended, she’s seen “tens of thousands” of fellow supporters and believes the media is downplaying his support.

“If everybody will get out and vote and there’s no cheating from the other side I think we have a good chance,” she said. “I’m going to believe that.”

If Trump doesn’t win in November, Smith said she would  “be totally devastated” and “cry for days and days and days and days along with the rest of America.”

Caleb Livingston, 26, a law student in Jackson and Baton Rouge native, said he was anxious to hear Trump and hoped he addressed the flooding in Louisiana.

“That really swung me when he went down there. ... This is as close as I’ll ever be able to see him so I figured I’d come down and check it out,” Livingston said. “I kind of want to hear his take on it and what he saw.”

He added, “Go Trump.”

Emma Hoggatt, of Brookhaven, said she has “been a Trump supporter since Celebrity Apprentice.”

Wearing a shirt made by her daughter with Trump 2016 in glitter, Hoggatt said Trump signified change. A retired lab technician, she said her main concern was the economy.

Addressing Trump’s sometimes controversial rhetoric, Hoggatt said, “I don’t believe he really believes it.”

Philemon Williams, of Madison, said he too has been a longtime Trump supporter.

“He’s the best man for the job, I stand for what he says. He says what he means and that’s what I like about him,” Williams said. “He’s a good man, he’s a man of his word. I love him. He stands out, he’s what we need.”

Patrice Goode, also of Madison, said there were “a lot of reasons” why she was voting for Trump but, addressing Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, said, “I will not vote for a lying criminal. I mean, that just makes no sense."

Goode said she posts on Facebook multiple times a day, voicing her support for Trump.

“To feed my fire, is all of the negative stuff coming up about Clinton and how would anyone want the Clintons back in the White House? You’ve already been exposed for Benghazi, for the emails. I mean, look at the Clinton Foundation. It’s just more everyday. I’m posting 10 things a day,” she said.

Goode added that she supports everything the Republican nominee says.

“Trump has so many things going for him that I definitely plan on voting for Trump,” she said. “I can’t think of anything I’m not supporting that he’s saying.

“I think people need to go behind the scenes and research what he’s stood for 20 or 30 years. I mean, he’s been talking about America, oh my gosh, since he was in his early 20s and 30s, so he’s had a concern for America that I think people need to take seriously. People need to research the man, not necessarily the actor they have seen on Celebrity Apprentice because he’s playing a role.”

Retired Air Force Col. Billy M. Boyd of Carthage also voiced concern with Clinton.

“Mrs. Hillary, she would not make a good president,” Boyd said. “She can’t tell the truth for one thing, and, number two, she has been in politics and she can’t tell the truth all along. Everywhere you go.”

Boyd said he feels it’s time for a Republican in the White House.

“We’ve had the Clintons, we’ve had the Democrats, we’ve had all of that stuff, it’s time for a change.”

While Trump fans waved and there were chants of “Lock her up,” not all of those at the rally were voting for Trump.

Cody Forsythe, originally from California but currently a Meridian resident, said he “came here for the show.”

Forsythe, who is voting for Hillary Clinton and said he does not know any Trump supporters, said, “It was interesting …I wanted to be a part of something that, maybe in the future, 20 years down the road, you can say, ‘Hey, I was there, I saw Trump when he was doing his thing,’ kind of the same way you would say, ‘Hey, I saw Wallace back in the day.’”

During his nearly hour-long speech, Trump addressed immigration, trade and job creation.

Throughout his speech, he referenced the African-American and Hispanic communities, and at one point called Clinton a “bigot.”

In part, Trump said, “Hillary Clinton is a bigot who sees people of color only as votes.”

After the rally ended, Rodney Barbour said he wasn’t surprised by the name-calling.

“He has well-calculated statements every week to create excitement and awareness of him,” Barbour said.

While Trump wasn’t his first choice, Barbour said he fully supports the nominee now.

“To me, it’s we the people,” he said. “We’re going to reclaim the rule of law in this country. It’s about we the people.”

Peggy Hilton, of Brandon, and Colin Hayward, of Byram, said they were Trump supporters “all the way.”

“We hate Hillary,” Hilton said.

Hayward added, “That woman should be in jail.”

Hilton said she wished, however, that Trump had addressed the white community more in his speech.

“The only thing I didn’t like is, a lot of his speech was aimed at the black and Hispanic population,” she said. “That (crowd) was majority white, and he really didn’t say a whole lot about what he was going to do for us … I wish he had said a little bit more about the white community … we’re not all white and we’re not all Hispanic.”

A British citizen, Hayward came to the U.S. in 1985. The process took two years, he said.

“You’ve got to keep those immigrants out,” he said. “They’re coming in thick and fast and you don’t know who they are.”

James and Tina Innis traveled from Florida to see Trump.

“Mr. Trump was great,” James Innis said. “He has no filter. It was above and beyond, it was great.”

Tina Innis said that was one of the qualities she liked most about Trump.

“I like that he doesn’t hold back,” she said. “He’s not a regular politician. He actually cares about the people.”

James Innis, who said he legally immigrated from Panama in 1988 before joining the Navy, voiced support for Trump’s views on immigration.

“It disgusts me, to see people jumping the border, getting all these benefits,” he said. “I have so much loyalty for this country, to hear people speaking in Spanish, my native tongue saying, ‘Blank America’ and they’re getting everything. Definitely, I’m voting for Mr. Trump. It’s about time. We need something to be done.”

Contact Sarah Fowler at sfowler@gannett.com or 601-961-7303. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.