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Ohio Valley Donald Trump Supporters Are Loud and Proud

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Several of the thousands of supporters who turned out for a Donald Trump campaign rally at Ohio University Eastern Tuesday said they support the billionaire’s run for president because they believe he’ll keep his promises and help the region’s struggling manufacturing sector recover.

Trump’s supporters at the rally seemed to agree with Trump’s message of closing the border, protecting U.S. industry through smarter trade agreements, growing the economy and getting tough with foreign policy.

Mark Hoffman, a Trump supporter from Newark, Ohio, drives a “patriotic” truck displaying a Trump flag, American flag and a “Don’t Tread On Me” flag to as many rallies as he can. He said he has been to three Trump rallies so far, and plans to attend more.

“This truck has 588,000 miles on it. It has been to Romney/Ryan, McCain/Palin and Bush/Cheney campaign stops. And I drove this truck to all of the 9/11 crash sites,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman says he supports Trump because he knows him.

“I spent four hours with him with no media around. He’s just a nice guy. But he’s tough, and that’s what we need. The country’s in big trouble,” he said.

Hoffman believes Trump’s most important campaign promise is closing the border and building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, as well as getting tougher on America’s enemies and being smarter with foreign policy.

“Hillary should be in prison for Benghazi. People in the military have gotten in trouble for a lot less. She let men die, and tried to cover it up,” Hoffman said.

“I believe Trump is a game changer for both parties. Both parties got us into this mess of spending and borrowing what we don’t have. We need our problems fixed, our borders fixed,” Hoffman continued. “I think Trump will live up to his promises. He is a business man. This country could not survive if it was a business being run the way that it is now. Trump will get in there and clean house. That’s why neither party wants him.”

Wheeling resident Pete Cuffaro also attended the rally and weighed in on why he is throwing his support to Trump.

“I think we need to go in a new direction. I was excited about Obama at first, but all I’ve seen are a bunch of lies. I don’t like all the executive orders. Things don’t work that way, especially with the war on coal,” Cuffaro said. “And the steel mills and manufacturing jobs are not showing signs of recovery. I think we should give Mr. Trump a chance for four years. He is a businessman, not a politician.”

Jason Herrin of Homossassa Fla., is a vendor who follows Trump across the country, selling T-shirts and hats promoting the candidate during rallies.

“We vendors are just struggling Americans trying to make an American dollar. We just heard about this rally yesterday and drove all night to be here,” Herrin said. “We are entrepreneurs just like Trump. We are supporting him because he’s trying to make us great again. … We need to get our stuff in order before we are really able to help others.”

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