An American tradition continued last week when Donald J. Trump swore the oath to office as the 45th president. This political phenomenon is almost as old as the country itself. It began in 1789, when President George Washington took his oath to office in New York City. This year’s inaugural address lasted less than 20 minutes and within the speech Trump stressed the importance of national unity and security.

Trump is anticipated to be one of the more controversial presidents. Trump, being a former celebrity and businessman, ran on an anti-establishment platform. The anti-establishment platform he ran on has led to a great amount of nationwide support. Colin Kubacki ‘17 is an avid supporter of Trump.

Kubacki has been a Trump supporter since the president first announced his candidacy in June of 2015, and liked Trump for two main reasons.

“He was the only Republican from the beginning that could have won the election,” Kubacki said. “Secondly, he was the only candidate that offered any legitimate change from the establishment.”

Another underlying reason so many Americans have supported Trump is the fact that he doesn’t act like an ordinary politician. Trump doesn’t behave like a typical politician would and this allows him to appeal to the “Average Joe,” Kubacki said.

Although Trump did win the presidency in the Electoral College, he lost the popular vote by almost 3 million votes. Therefore, there are many Americans in the country who do not support Trump himself, or his policies. After Trump was elected on Nov. 8, protests, some featuring violence ensued in various major cities, such as Washington D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles and Austin, Texas.

On the inauguration day protests erupted such as The Inaugurate Resistance and the #j20 Resist. Besides the protests, there were more than 65 Democratic Congressmen who opted out of attending the inauguration such as Congressmen John Lewis. An LT student, Maggie Nutter ’17, also attended an anti-Trump protest in D.C.

“The goal is not to get him out of office,” Nutter said. “It’s just to send the message that he isn’t off the hook for the things that he has said.”

Nutter, accompanied by her mother, drove to Washington D.C. on Friday. They stayed the night in D.C. and protested at the Women’s March for hours on Saturday. They met up with some of her family friends and then joined a larger group once they got to the protesting site.

“I definitely think the protestors made a positive impact,” Nutter said. “It was a reminder that he still has to cater to all America, not just the half that voted for him.”