No Support For President Trump? A Tale Of Two Mackinac's

By Brandon Hall
(Email Him At WestMIPolitics@Gmail.com)

Reading comments about the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference from Detroit News Editor Nolan Finley, as well as political operative Dennis "The Menace" Lennox, I found myself immensely perplexed... Did they attend the same conference I did?

Finley and Lennox claim they saw almost no support for President Trump on the Island. Lennox even compared the President to Voldemort from Harry Potter, claiming Mr. Trump was "he who shall not be named."

While the focus of the conference was on Michigan politics and 2018, there was no shortage of support for President Trump on Mackinac.

People wore Trump hats, shirts, and buttons all over the place! The Michigan Trump Republicans had a strong presence, and a Trump impersonator who attended multiple events was a YUGE hit. 

According to Matt Maddock of the Michigan Conservative Coalition, who brought him to the island, the impersonator took over 1,000 pictures with people, mostly conference attendees, and even some tourists.

Attend pretty much any reception, and President Trump was right at the top of issues being discussed.

As I took a cigar break and watched the U of M/Purdue game through the window of the restaurant next to my hotel, a young Hispanic waitress came outside after seeing my MAGA hat just to tell me how thrilled she was with the President.

She said if it were not for Mr. Trump bringing down the waves of illegal immigration, she wouldn't have had a job this year, as many illegals are hired during the summer to staff the Island's establishments. That's just one of many conversations that took place regarding President Trump over the weekend.

What Finley and Lennox seem to be referring to is the crowd over at the Grand Hotel. 

There, the official program took place, and it was entirely Michigan focused. Even then, multiple speakers mentioned President Trump, including RNC Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and multiple Congressman on the legislative panel.

Don't get me wrong, a lot of great folks hang out at the Grand. However, that is also where many of the big donors and establishments stalwarts post up, they rarely venture on down the road to mingle with the grassroots activists and local party leaders attending receptions and events.

If they had, they'd find a much different scene than at the Grand, where make no mistake, President Trump was far from "he who shall not be named," he was the talk of the town, with repeated displays of support from all sorts of people.

It's clear that two Mackinac's exist, the one at the Grand, and the one down the road. Don't buy into claims or insinuations that Michigan Republicans don't have President Trump's back, they overwhelmingly support him.

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Brandon Hall is a lifelong political nerd from Grand Haven, and is the Managing Editor of West Michigan Politics.

>>>Email him at WestMIPolitics@Gmail.com
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