After cold temperatures moved President Trump’s swearing-in ceremony and inaugural address indoors to the Capitol Rotunda, attendees who had traveled hundreds of miles were left ticketless, confused and cold.
The inauguration is traditionally held in the U.S. Capitol and attendees with tickets can view the proceedings from outside. But Monday’s inauguration moved the inaugural activities out of the public eye. Instead, in attendance were some 600 Washington politicians, Trump supporters and mega-millionaires. The last time such a shift in inaugural plans occurred was during Ronald Reagan’s inauguration in 1985.
Despite the last-minute change announced Friday, Trump supporters were determined to catch a glimpse of the president — even if it meant waiting hours in sub-freezing temperatures, sleet and snow.
For 32-year-old Casey Wade, Trump’s inauguration marked a historic moment in America — one she didn’t want to miss. So, Wade’s whole family, including her three children, aged 3, 5 and 10, drove to Washington from Jacksonville.
While they got tickets to the outdoor inauguration before it was relocated Friday, Wade was hopeful that her daughter would experience a presidential inauguration.
“It was important, especially for her age [10] really, to see this part of history,” she said.
Because the moving of the inauguration came just four days before Inauguration Day, Wade had to pivot at the last minute, as she doubted she would be able to get into Capital One Arena on Monday, where attendees could see all livestreamed inaugural activities.
She said travelers in total had 240,000 tickets to the inauguration, but the Capital One Arena holds only 20,000.
So, they waited hours in their Trump cowboy hats through sleet and snow on Sunday to try and make the most out of the last-minute changes and chaos that surrounded the weekend at Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again Victory Rally.’
While the family arrived at the line early in the day around 9 a.m., the line to get into the rally still seemed never-ending.
Further up the line, 56-year-old Melissa Rios of Tampa waited with her husband, hoping to make the money spent on the trip — several thousand dollars — worth it.
“Whatever the cost was, it was worth it to be here,” she said. “I think this is a turning point in our nation, a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Before the change of venue was announced, Rios was planning on just going to the inauguration. But she decided to go to the rally once she heard the news.
For Inauguration Day, Rios and her husband went to watch it elsewhere, where they could be inside and stay warm.
While Rios and Wade waited hours in line through harsh weather conditions, others didn’t even try, due to the sheer volume of those waiting.
Baron Brandstrom, 58, and Sharalyn Brandstrom, 52, of St. Petersburg, got tickets to the inauguration through their state representative Anna Luna and both wanted to come to Washington to be a part of the victory, they said.
But getting up to wait in line for hours was out of the question.
“We can’t get up at 10 a.m. to wait in line,” he said.
The couple spent $10,000, they said – a direct result of their business ProBev. Their money was the fruition of Trump’s previous term, during which he set up tax benefits and Small Business Administration programs that allowed their business to be “turbo charged,” Brandstrom said.
And while the changes in the event still threw a wrench in their plans to see President Trump’s inauguration, the two were able to attend a Sunday night gala and Monday inauguration watch party.
Despite the changes to their original plans, the couple celebrated Trump’s start of a second term, they said. “We’ll be OK.”