Carli Eli still cries every time she hears “God Bless the USA,” the Lee Greenwood song that has become the de facto anthem for President-elect Donald Trump’s rallies.
Born in Venezuela and raised in New York, the Atlanta Republican is among many diehard Trump supporters who are hitting the road to Washington this week to witness the second swearing-in of the former and future president.
“This is a historic moment for our country,” said Eli, who is attending her first presidential inauguration. She said she is excited to see “a nation that has been galvanized with America First values under an exceptional leader.”
Credit: Pool
Credit: Pool
It was announced Friday that Trump’s swearing-in will be moved indoors due to frigid temperatures in Washington. He is expected to take the oath of office and deliver his inaugural address from inside the Capitol Rotunda. The last time that happened was 40 years ago when former President Ronald Reagan began his second term inside the Capitol.
The decision to move the inauguration indoors sparked a scramble for Georgians headed to Washington. Seanie Zappendorf was among the many glued to updates, though she has no problems with the shift.
”Whatever will be the final arrangement, this is a chance of a lifetime and I am grateful and humbled to have been given the opportunity to attend,” she said.
Four years after narrowly losing to Democrat Joe Biden, Trump recaptured Georgia and won every other battleground state in the 2024 vote. He will be the first president since Grover Cleveland to return to the White House for a nonconsecutive second term.
For Judy Griffin, Trump’s inauguration on Monday will mark a victory years in the making.
“It’s like a breath of fresh air,” said Griffin, a Woodstock Republican attending her third inauguration.
The longtime GOP supporter gave an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter a tour of her Cherokee County home as she and her husband, Brian, prepared for their 10-hour drive to Northern Virginia.
They plan on staying with a friend in Alexandria on Friday and attending several weekend events before picking up their inauguration tickets from U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk’s Capitol Hill office.
The couple attended Trump’s swearing-in back in 2017 and also went to President George W. Bush’s second inauguration in 2005.
Early supporters of Trump, the pair have amassed a collection of “Make America Great Again” hats over the years. Atop the upright piano in their living room, nestled among photos of friends and loved ones, sits a Christmas card from the Trump campaign featuring the former president in a Santa hat.
“You made the nice list,” the card says.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Griffin also showed off her prized cowboy hat, smothered in pins and campaign buttons that she’s collected over decades of Republican campaigns. The oldest is a button from former U.S. Rep. Bo Callaway’s 1966 bid for Georgia governor.
“It’s a little bit heavy,” Griffin said of the straw hat, which she wore to Republican National Conventions in 2012 and 2016 while serving as a delegate. She’ll likely opt for something warmer for this weekend’s trip to the Beltway.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Georgia’s political elite is showing up in force, too.
Gov. Brian Kemp, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, Attorney General Chris Carr, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Agriculture Secretary Tyler Harper all plan to attend the inauguration. Democratic U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock are also set to be there.
The state spotlight may shine brightest on several of Georgia’s biggest Republican casualties in past elections who are suddenly ascendant again.
Former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler and former U.S. Rep. Doug Collins are both primed for Cabinet-level positions, while former U.S. Sen. David Perdue was nominated as the ambassador to China. All three fell to Democrats during the twin 2020 campaigns for U.S. Senate.
Danny Hamilton, who owns a tour bus company, quickly filled up seven buses of Trump supporters who paid $900 a pop to ride in a caravan from Atlanta to Washington on Friday and return the day after the inauguration. The buses will be stationed at an RV park outside Washington, and moonlit driving tours of the nation’s capital are on the itinerary.
Hamilton told the riders — about three quarters of whom are women — that sleeping in one of the 12 beds on board is like “going camping in a million-dollar bus.”
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
”I am so ready for Trump, man,” he said. “It’s been terrible the last four years, and I just can’t imagine four more years like that.”
Orien Roy, who served as Georgia’s youngest delegate at last summer’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, could barely contain his excitement.
“It’s historic. How could I not be looking forward to it?” said the 24-year-old from Alpharetta. “I’m over the moon.”
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
Roy, who works for a Republican nonprofit and serves as chair of the Forsyth County Young Republicans, said he’s elated to see the group’s hard work pay off.
He said he’s also hopeful that inflation drops and interest rates get slashed over the next four years so young people have an easier time buying their first homes.
Alice O’Lenick, who has served on Gwinnett County’s election board for 12 years, is going with her husband and their oldest grandson. The high school junior is a history buff, O’Lenick said, and he jumped at the chance to accompany his grandparents to Washington.
“He’s thrilled and his teachers are thrilled for him that he gets the opportunity to go,” she said. “That’s actually what I’m more excited about than I am about standing on the lawn at the Capitol with my feet freezing.”
O’Lenick and her husband attended Trump’s first inauguration eight years ago, and she still remembers how cold it was.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Art Gallegos Jr., a Gainesville resident and president of Latinos Conservative Organization, said he expects a diverse crowd in Washington in part because the Republican Party made a concerted effort to appeal to more minority voters through the campaign.
Trump increased his support among Latino voters, particularly Latino men.
“Look at the results. Records were broken, not just in the Latino community, but also within other minority groups,” said Gallegos, a cancer survivor and father of two who is preparing for his first inauguration.
Gallegos was born and raised in San Diego after his parents moved to California from Mexico in search of better opportunities. He said it’s that same quest for economic prosperity that prompted more minorities to vote Republican in 2024.
He said some left-leaning Latinos have accused him of being “anti-immigrant.” But he said that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“At the end of the day, everybody wanted a change,” Gallegos said. “People just want to provide a better lifestyle for themselves and their families.”
