In January 2019, two teenagers burned a flag supporting President Donald Trump on a Burlington porch, stirring up Trump supporters nationwide.
In Vermont, the incident united the president’s supporters, according to Trump’s state campaign leader Laura Benner of South Burlington. About 50 people turned up in January to see the flag replaced with one personally sent by Eric Trump.
“Trump supporters from all over the state showed up on a bitter cold day,” Benner said. “And we turned something that was not nice into something that was wonderful.”
Six months later, campaign leaders hope the momentum that began in January will snowball into a Republican victory.
Vermont’s pro-Trump community has historically been small. While Trump won a third of the Vermont vote in 2016, Benner acknowledged that Vermont is, “unfortunately,” deep blue. Nationwide, Vermont’s approval ratings for the president have consistently ranked among the lowest in the country. Trump campaign efforts in the state have been dwarfed by support for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Democratic presidential campaign.
Several prominent state Republicans — including Gov. Phil Scott — have openly disagreed with the administration’s immigration policies.
But despite the division within the Vermont Republican Party, campaign leaders are working to galvanize Trump supporters in Vermont for the 2020 election cycle.
In the buildup to the election, much of Vermont’s Republican leadership will be overhauled. At the most recent Republican State Committee meeting, Benner and two others (Chet Greenwood of Derby and Rick Cochran of Walden) were named Vermont’s co-MAGA chairs. Per state statute, the rest of Vermont’s Republican leaders will be reorganized this fall.
For now, the function of the MAGA chairs — new positions for 2020 — is to secure enough petition signatures for Trump to appear on the ballot. According to Vermont GOP chair Deborah Billado, getting Trump on the ballot will be a breeze.
“In 2016 95,000 Vermonters votes (sic) for now President Trump so securing the ballot access should be a small task,” Billado wrote in an email. “Especially with all the promises kept by this president and his booming economy.”
Cochran said that the party’s final campaign roles — those beyond early promotional positions — will be decided after new party leadership is in place.
“[The official campaign managers] have not made any declaration or assignments. That will come later,” Cochran said. “Probably later in the fall, I’m anticipating. There’s a lot of structural things, process things, that happen right now.”
The MAGA chairs are already facilitating events. There are several “sign waves” planned for the coming weeks, including two in Rutland and Essex Junction on Friday. There will also be booths at the state’s field days and fairs; in Chittenden County, the Champlain Valley Fair will include two separate booths hyping Trump.
So far, both Benner and Cochran said the campaign is going well.
“There are some, obviously, who don’t care for President Trump. I’ve had doors shut in my face, and I had one incident where an individual said that they wanted him dead. I simply just move on to the next house,” Benner said. “But overall, there have been quite a few supporters who actually have been closet supporters, who are saying thank you for doing this.”
Cochran also recalled hearing encouragement from quieter residents.
“I’m quite pleased with how many people will say, we support you, we’re going to vote for the president. But they’re probably not going to go out and wear a Make America Great Again hat,” Cochran said.
As Benner advocates for the president’s candidacy, the MAGA chair said she’s hoping for civility throughout the 2020 campaign.
Benner wants to convince people by “engaging in polite, intelligent conversation” — and that it is “hurtful” when Trump or his supporters are labeled racist.
“It’s just not true. It’s not true that our president is a racist, and it’s not true that his supporters are racist either,” she said. “When he talks about securing the border, he’s talking about securing the border — and safety — for everyone, regardless of your religion, your skin color, your gender.”
Vermont’s governor is among those who disagree. Scott accused Trump of writing “racist” tweets last month, calling the president’s statements “offensive.” He also said he would support former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld over Trump in 2020 Republican primary.
Other Vermont Republicans have expressed similar concerns: Trump’s presidency has proved divisive for the party, with some members aligning with the governor and distancing themselves from the president.
In addition to the tweet controversy, Trump has drawn criticism for pursuing a ban on transgender people serving in the military, buckling down on deporting undocumented immigrants, and calling Baltimore a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess.”
Sen. Randy Brock, R-Franklin, a vocal Trump critic, said that Trump’s priorities don’t represent the best of the Vermont Republican Party. Brock’s values, he said, include individual freedom, self reliance, and treating people with integrity — not things he associates with the current administration.
Still, Brock said that he is uncertain whether there will be a viable Republican alternative for Vermonters to rally around.
“We haven’t seen much of a credible set of alternatives, at least at this point,” Brock said. “Now, that may change. Bill Weld is running, has petitions in Vermont. He’s a former Massachusetts governor, but I don’t get a sense that there’s much of a groundswell for him at this point.”
According to Cochran and Benner, however, Trump is not a default option. They believe that he is the best possible candidate for Vermonters. Both MAGA chairs praised the president’s economic positions, asserting that Trump has brought new jobs to the state and made federal regulations easier on businesses.
Cochran said that too many people “focus on the negative.”
“There may be some naysayers out there, I get it,” he said. “But there’s some really good things happening. I think we’re seeing momentum that we didn’t see in 2016.”
