The Iowa Standard was LIVE Saturday at the Iowa Trump Parade in Des Moines. We’ll be sharing some of the interviews we did at the parade. We talked with Scott, who lives in Kansas City but grew up in Des Moines. His mother lives in Des Moines and he was there visiting this past weekend.
Scott said his grandfather was born next door and was a detective for the Des Moines Police Department.
“He was a very, very patriotic person,” Scott said. “He would’ve loved it to step outside on his front porch and be able to see all these beautiful people out here supporting America. That’s why I wanted to get over here.”
Scott had no idea the event was happening until he drove by.
“When we drove by here and I saw all these beautiful people here supporting our country it just completely blew my mind,” he said. “I had no idea there was this many patriotic Americans left to come out and show their support for this country and how lucky we are to be living in the greatest nation on earth.”
The atmosphere was like nothing he sees on the TV, he said.
“I never imagined that this many people would show up in one place to support our country,” he said. “So, yeah, to be here and to see all these people here who are patriotic people who love America — I had to come over here and just walk around and just thank and wave at everybody and say thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart for loving this country.
“Every time I turn on the news, every time I look at something, I never see this many patriotic Americans in one place. All you see are just all the negative aspects of what’s going on in this country and you don’t see enough of the positive.”
It provides encouragement, he said, seeing something like the Trump Parade with his own eyes.
“When you see it with your own eyes and you just see all these people out here loving their country and coming out here to be supportive of their country, especially doing it on this scale, it really makes you feel like there’s really a future for America,” Scott said. “Like there is hope. Because, sometimes, you don’t feel it. Sometimes the media has our heads so wound up you’re like thinking, ‘well, I don’t know if there’s anybody left in America that loves it anymore.’ But then when you see this, it’s so reassuring that there are so many people that love this country and they’re showing up to show their support.
“There’s no big shows, no celebrities, no big event. It’s not like there’s a band here playing. It’s not like there’s a bunch of free beer. These people are just here because they love their country and their only here for that reason and that’s it. I’m beginning to feel reassured that there’s still a lot of hope for our country.”
Scott said he isn’t interested in being part of a “transformed America.”
“Everybody from all over the world is coming here to celebrate how great a nation we have — that’s why we want to keep it the way it is,” he said. “We don’t want to change the Constitution. We don’t want to change America. America’s greatness is in being itself, not being transformed into something else. I don’t want to be transformed. I don’t want to be part of a transformation. I want to be a part of a nation that I grew up in and that I know and that I love.”
