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Anti-Impeachment Rally Draws 'Trump 2020' Signs, Heckling Cars, To Downtown Bakersfield

Craig Luther
Anti-impeachment demonstrators gathered along California Avenue in Bakersfield on Thursday, October 17.

While the impeachment inquiry carried on in Washington, pockets of people took to the streets across the country on Thursday to support President Trump. One anti-impeachment rally took place in Bakersfield.

Dozens of people gathered along California Avenue to protest the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry in Congress and to show their support for Trump’s reelection. “We’re pushing back because we love the direction the country is moving in,” said organizer Craig Luther, mentioning the president’s foreign policy and tightening of the U.S.-Mexico border. “Jobs are being created at home, the economy is just bursting.”

Luther, a military historian from Tehachapi, and his fellow rally-goers waved “Trump 2020” posters, American flags, and signs reading “Stop the impeachment witch hunt” and “Trump: Going to bat for America.”

While they cheered, passing cars honked and revved their engines—and not always in support. “This is a very divided country, and I have to tell you, I have never been flipped off more times in my entire life than I have in the last hour,” said Luther.

The rally coincided with Trump Marches organized nationally by Women for America First.

Kerry Klein is an award-winning reporter whose coverage of public health, air pollution, drinking water access and wildfires in the San Joaquin Valley has been featured on NPR, KQED, Science Friday and Kaiser Health News. Her work has earned numerous regional Edward R. Murrow and Golden Mike Awards and has been recognized by the Association of Health Care Journalists and Society of Environmental Journalists. Her podcast Escape From Mammoth Pool was named a podcast “listeners couldn’t get enough of in 2021” by the radio aggregator NPR One.