The North Carolina afternoon sun was setting.

Security had placed truck trailers around the rally at Wilmington International Airport.

This created a barrier against a rogue shooter, but also created a furnace pit effect. There was no wind. the asphalt radiated heat. People were fainting.

Trump was only 20 feet away from me, behind bulletproof glass, belittling the Democrats. I was sweating profusely. I said to the elderly couple next to me, who were struggling in the heat, “Trump deodorant would do a meltdown today.”

I arrived at 6.30 am to enter the venue. Several worshipers slept overnight to be first in line for a 2pm talk. I entered as a member of the public rather than applying for media accreditation. I’m told the Trump campaign doesn’t like foreign media.

Trump Carnies (carnival goers) gathered at the entrance to the rally, selling goods made in China, Honduras, Vietnam and Bangladesh. Trucker caps, hoodies, shirts, flags, banners, bottle openers, stickers, posters, fridge magnets, all embracing the “God, Guns and Trump” ideology.

A predominantly white crowd, many I spoke to understood that Trump’s speeches were recycled waffle from event to event. But they were there for the experience, the belonging, the kinship, as much as the desire to see the man himself.

Dave, a retired truck driver, sat next to me. Wearing blue jeans, a trucker cap and a black tank top with a picture of Trump raising his fist in the air and the words “fight, fight, fight” on it. Dave was a typical demographic.

He offered me and a number of strangers cold bottled water he had just bought.

“Where are you from… England?” he asked in a southern drawl.

“New Zealand,” I said.

“Oooh….he paused,….I was pretty close.”

Like many, Dave feared where the country was headed.

America is changing too fast. It had been left behind, technically, economically and progressively. Dave had found his tribe—the tribe that was concerned with illegal immigrants, the Democratic Communist Party, gun legislation, the attack on the Judeo-Christian family structure, and transgender issues.

All the while, YMCA by the Village played over the PA system.

I asked Dave about the assassination attempts.

There have been two attempts on Trump.

“Inside.”

“Inside,” I said.

“In the works, they tried to catch him.”

“They.”

“Yes…the deep state, the FBI, the CIA, and the Democratic Party.”

Everyone at the rally and in my travels that I spoke to believed that the attempts were inside the workplaces.

—

In 2016, NFL player Colin Kaepernick knelt during the national anthem at the start of NFL games to protest systemic racism in the United States. This continued into the 2017 season, (with Trump now president) with more players taking a stand.

The issue divided the nation.

I have discussed this topic with other rally participants. Many were unhappy with the players who took the knee. They just wanted to watch the game on a Sunday with a beer in hand without having to deal with these premature accusations. “I just want to relax”,… “don’t mix politics with sports”,… “He (Kaepernick) isn’t even black!”… “They’re just football players, it’s not their job”,… “Fire them”, they were typical reactions.

I mentioned to people that one of America’s most beloved sports heroes, Muhammad Ali, refused to fight in the Vietnam War. For his position, Ali lost his world boxing title and could not fight for three years. Silence and blank stares usually followed this statement, and then often the comment, “That’s a different scenario.”

The reactions instantly reminded me of the Springbok tour of New Zealand in 1981. Where we as a nation exposed a wound that needed to be squeezed. And while the pain oozed for a while, it eventually healed.

We matured as a country, came back together and went in a new direction, collectively and progressively. New Zealand, it turned out, was more than rugby, racing and beer, and slowly, and I mean slowly, Pākehā society began to recognize a partnership with Māori.

But for millions of Americans, it seemed they didn’t want to go through this uncomfortable change.

—

In 2020 we had a photo exhibition. The exhibit was a series of self-portraits looking at caricatures of supporters who flocked to Trump’s mantra. Think Cindy Sherman meets Red State.

From the 2021 Capitol riot, trials and convictions, to his second term nomination, assassination attempts, Trump has been a topic that just kept on giving.

So, with the camera, I headed to America’s East Coast to visit the swing states and MAGA (Make America Great Again) support base. America would become my new art department for more work.

At the rally and in my travels, I have found kind, gracious, warm and friendly people.

“If you’re white,” a friend of mine said when I recounted my experiences in the US

But after experiencing the authenticity of these people, I would hope they get a little more credit than that.

It reminded me of many experiences filming documentaries throughout my career in Aotearoa.

You can go to a liberal academic household in a gentrified suburb and the interaction is functional, transactional, polite and distant.

While, on the other hand, he visits a rural couple who, although ideologically very different, make an effort to warmly acknowledge their city guests. They share their morning tea, bacon and egg pie and fresh scones.

And while politics may be more polarized and black and white, life, it seems, is never that simple.