(RIVERSIDE, Cal.) — A woman dressed in shorts, flip-flops, and a red hat stamped with the logo “Make America Great Again” parades around Lake Perris, waving a large MAGA flag that moves to the rhythm of the breezy November morning. The driving cars honk at her as she waves her hand, smiling and screaming at the top of her lungs, “Trump for president! Trump for president!”
Lake Perris, nestled in the heart of Riverside and surrounded by desert hills, is usually the perfect setting for weddings, graduations and quinceañera pictures. Known for activities like jogging, swimming, fishing, biking, and horseback riding, political events are a rarity here.
The morning feels hot in Lake Perris, and tall trucks adorned with waving red, white and blue flags arrive one after another, kicking up clouds of dust as they pull into a makeshift parking lot along the lake’s shoreline. The Kid Rock song “We the People” reverberates from a giant speaker while six shirtless men raise their energy drinks overhead as they jump and stomp to the beat. Nearby, a crowd gathers around a string of tents where vendors sell MAGA regalia, ranging in price from $25 for a hat to $120 for wall decor featuring Donald Trump’s image.
“I’ve been here since seven in the morning — this is the last rally we are having to manifest Donald Trump’s winning this election,” says Tamara, 48, who wears a red “Women for Trump” T-shirt. Even her French bulldog sports a MAGA flag as a bandana.
Around 10:30 a.m., rally speaker and organizer Ray Carbajal arrives and announces that he will soon deliver his speech. Some supporters look irritated and seek out shade to protect themselves from the heavy California sun, while others eat burgers and drink pints.
It’s not surprising to see Republican rallies across Riverside — what is new is the significant number of Latinos that attend these gatherings, chanting, “Latinos for Trump,” and standing for the Republican candidate’s anti-immigration policies. Their presence foreshadows a potential flip from liberal to conservative in Riverside, a county that has voted blue in the last two presidential elections.
“It’s exciting, it’s exciting to see a large number of Hispanics moving to the Right. Finally, they learned. I learned my lesson 30 years ago,” says Carbajal, nodding with a smirk. He claims that the Biden-Harris administration failed Americans, mirroring what Bill Clinton did three decades ago when he failed to maintain a strong economy and neglected Americans’ welfare.
Later, Carbajal takes to the improvised stage set in a Toyota truck bed, surrounded by dozens of attendees. He asks a veteran in the crowd to come up to the stage to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. ”It’s been almost four years since our country was taken from us, the real Americans, and it’s time to take our country back. Let’s take our country back and make America great again,” says Carbajal with a slight Chicano accent common to someone born in Los Angeles to Mexican parents. The crowd chants, “USA! USA! USA!”
Carbajal proceeds to highlight the importance of voting in the November 5th election. He calls Vice President Kamala Harris too dangerous and incompetent to govern. “We want to have more money in our checking accounts, and that is impossible when you go to the grocery store or gas station and have to pay $100 for only a few items. Inflation is slowly killing us,” adds Carbajal. This political rhetoric is often used to incite voter enthusiasm, but research has shown that neither the president of the United States nor other federal agencies directly control the prices of food or gas. This doesn’t stop politicians and their supporters from using inflation as a talking point.
“Latinos are just tired of the high cost of living, and I’m happy to see more and more Latinos supporting Donald Trump. We are done with the Democrats,” says Sharlene from Orange County, one of the vendors at the rally. Sharlene adds that most Latinos work minimum-wage jobs, making it harder for them to survive the sharp increase in inflation.
The economy seems to be the factor that worries Latinos the most, and it is the strongest reason why some Hispanics will vote red in the upcoming election despite Trump’s reiterated promise to deport millions of immigrants.
“Kamala and Biden have turned this country into a mess by opening the border to millions of illegal immigrants and giving them the benefits that by right only belong to us Americans,” says Eric Alvarenga, a construction worker whose parents are from El Salvador. Alvarenga adds that the new Latino generations have to let go of the ideology that Democrats care about them. “As a millennial, I once thought that Democrats were our heroes, but honestly, it is quite the opposite,” remarks Alvarenga.
Carbajal concludes his 20-minute speech by invoking a prayer for Trump and a favorable election outcome for the Republican candidate. The crowd bow their heads, raise their hands, and some kneel to pray for the safety of the Republican candidate, who suffered an assassination attempt last July in Pennsylvania. “When you leave the parking lot, wave your flags, honk your cars, make yourselves be seen and heard,” Carbajal instructs the crowd.
Minutes later, a caravan of cars and motorcycles flood Lake Perris Street, honking and blaring songs like “God Bless the USA” and “Trump is My President,” while pedestrians gaze dumbfounded at the uproar.
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