Not everyone in Wildwood was there to support Trump's re-election campaign

Anthony V. Coppola
Cherry Hill Courier-Post

WILDWOOD - A verbal sparring match broke out around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday between President Donald Trump supporters and protesters in Wildwood opposed to his place in the White House. 

Protesters were provided a parking lot for their demonstration by Wildwood Police Department along the boardwalk between East Leaming and East Bennett avenues — about a half mile from where Trump's "Keep America Great" rally drew 7,500 people into the Wildwoods Convention Center. 

The protest was led by grassroots group Cape May County Indivisible, whose representatives said they expected up to 30 other organizations to also attend. 

"The main reason why we're here is we feel like we have a moral obligation to show up, take a stand, and reject the racism, and bigotry, misogyny and corruption of this administration," Cassandra Gatelein of Cape May County Indivisible said. "But also this is going to be very unifying for us and a way to build power to make this country better for everyone." 

Trump protesters' voices would not go unopposed, however. 

The president's supporters lined the railing along the boardwalk where the dissenters gathered and sent chants of "Four more years" and "U.S.A." their way. 

It's a move that did not catch protesters off guard.

"We have all ages, races, creeds, down here preaching a message of love and they're all just yelling at us about like 'Four more years' or 'Get used to it' or 'Just take it' and it's not cool," said Kenny Pete, 42, of Point Pleasant.  

Pete, who held a sign that read "No hate in our state," attended free of any group affiliation.

The crowd of protesters had swelled to about 250 people by 4:30 p.m. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, newly a Republican and the catalyst for Trump's visit here, told the convention center audience that 175,000 people requested tickets to the rally.

"It's not every day that the president comes to New Jersey, so it's something to be a part of, to be seen, but it's also showing solidarity for all the people who disagree with what this guy's got to say," Pete said of Trump. "So we're out here to basically exercise our rights as Americans in the form of peaceful protest." 

Lynne McClintock came from Flemington, Hunterdon County, with eight friends to protest Trump's arrival in Wildwood. 

McClintock said they decided to make the trip as soon as they learned a rally would be held here. 

"We're here because we need to be. We're Americans; we value our freedom," McClintock said. "We went to the Women's March in Washington because we were so upset, then we went again in Philadelphia because we were so upset and now we're here.

"We didn't know we'd be at this spot in three years," McClintock continued. "We were kinda hoping he'd just be normal and do things that presidents do, but that's not what he did. He's taken away everything we care about, including our environment, our education, cuts in that, cuts in social security, he doesn't want people to have healthcare and he lies ... all the time."

Many protesters held the Baby Trump balloons that have become commonplace among those opposed to the president.

There also was an inflatable Baby Trump on site that folks posed for pictures with. 

Not all protesters kept their cool, though. 

One woman, seemingly fed up with comments from Trump supporters, marched to the front of the crowd and returned an expletive-laden chant to boos from the president's backers. 

A strong police presence kept watch during the event, but no intervention was needed through the early portion of the demonstration. 

A series of speakers, highlighted by Martin Luther King III, were scheduled to address protest attendees.

Gatelein said the group had no intentions of making their way down to the convention center where the rally was being held to spread their message.  

"We had no interest in engaging and that's why we worked in close coordination with the Wildwood chief of police," Gatelein said. "We felt it was important to create a space where we can also exercise our rights in a safe way." 

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