Martin: Trump inauguration was ‘awesome experience’

Martin: Trump inauguration was ‘awesome experience’

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Neshoba County native Ty Martin, political director of the Mississippi Republican Party, returned to Washington, D.C., last week to attend President Trump’s inauguration.

“Our thoughts leading up to the inauguration were just finally realizing what we have worked for the last three to four years to achieve,” said Martin, 20. “We were very enthusiastic on the drive up—it was a good feeling.”

Martin, accompanied by his close friend Republican strategist Jamie Peavy, attended his first inauguration.

Having previously lived in D.C. while serving in the U.S. Senate Page Program, Martin said that aside from the heightened security blockades, the city felt much like it did during a typical week.

He said he sympathized with those who had hoped to witness the inauguration outside but was personally glad the event was moved inside the Capitol Rotunda due to the bitterly cold weather.

Before the inauguration, Martin attended the Hispanic Inaugural Ball with another close friend, Mario Rodriguez, chairman of Hispanic 100, a conservative Hispanic outreach group based in California.

At the ball, Martin got to meet the President of Argentina, Javier Milei, whom he described as a “hoot,” though the two spoke through a translator. Martin later watched Trump’s swearing-in on television with members of Hispanic 100 at their hotel.

“I’ve never seen a group of people in a room more enthusiastic and fired up,” Martin said. “After seeing the landslide victory that President Trump had, it was a pure celebration—there were no ifs, and, or buts. It was President Trump laying out his vision for the future, and that resonated with everyone I was with watching it.”

Though Martin didn’t attend the swearing-in ceremony in person, he joined the celebration at the Liberty Ball held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, where country musicians Billy Ray Cyrus and Jason Aldean performed, among others.

“We walked into a room probably six or seven football fields big, with thousands of people there all to see one man and his family,” Martin said. “There was just a feeling in that room—one that cannot be accurately described.”

Reflecting on the inauguration’s significance, Martin said it marked a pivotal moment for the Republican Party.

“This inauguration will go down, at least for the Republican Party, as a starting point to either one of the greatest political comebacks ever seen or one of the worst political flops,” he said. “The party has two years to make this right and to show voters that we weren’t just spurting hot air and that Republican conservative leadership is the way forward.”

Martin said one of the most moving moments occurred during the pre-show ceremonies when the inaugural committee played “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.”

“You could see in the room that I was in that emotions really started turning,” he said. “If it was any other Trump rally, you would hear ‘Y.M.C.A.’ playing, but this was not that time—I think that was a reflection of the President’s commitments.”

Not all of Martin’s experiences in D.C. were serious. He recalled a humorous incident involving Evelyn Copeland and Connie Davis, the current and former presidents of the Rankin County Republican Women’s Association.

While visiting the International Spy Museum, Copeland, 86 and still very active, was asked to move their vehicle after Jamie Peavy accidentally parked illegally.

“With the straightest face, she looks at this cop and says, ‘I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t drive. I can’t move this truck,’” Martin said, laughing.

Peavy eventually came outside after receiving numerous calls from Copeland, only to find her arguing with three police officers and described the scene as one of the most hilarious moments he had ever witnessed.

Looking back on his trip, Martin described his experience with one word: “awesome.”

“You have to dive deeper into what the word awesome means,” he said. “It inspired awe and was a purely momentous and huge occasion—one that we may never see again.”






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