Counter protesters at the Oct. 19 Trump Wall rally referred to the wall as a symbol of bigotry, and by extension, the supporters hosting the demonstration as bigots.

“The misconceptions I tend to hear are that we’re all white dudes, which couldn’t be further from the truth,” junior history major Mario Vega said. “College Republicans meetings at WSU show how diverse (Republican presidential candidate Donald) Trump supporters are and how wrong people are when they think our platform is based on racism or any type of -ism. I encourage all those who are skeptical to come to a (College Republican’s) meeting and see what we’re all about rather than hearing about who we are from other people.”

Trump supporters said they are drawn to the Republican presidential candidate for a variety of reasons too diverse to be encompassed within a single stereotype.

“I think it is hard to make one blanket statement for any and all comments Trump has made including minorities and women,” said Blaise Schile, a senior finance major who is of mixed ancestry, half black and half white.

Vega said the media has misconstrued Trump’s comments on illegal immigrants and particular women as his thoughts on all Hispanics and women.

“In listening to his comments in context,” Vega said, “you find that it’s not at all like what we’re led to believe.”

Schile said that Trump has said worse things about men than women.

“At the end of the day,” he said, “these are just comments about how he honestly feels about specific people, which I think he is fully entitled to his opinion.”

Eden Kelshaw, ASWSU Chief Justice and a pre-law junior, supports Trump because of his approach to national security and she believes Trump has harmed women less than Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has.

“Is he a jerk? Yes. Has he been mean to women? Yes,” Eden Kelshaw, ASWSU Chief Justice and a pre-law junior, said of the Republican candidate. “But from what I can tell, he has made steps to be better. I believe that everyone deserves another chance and, honestly, I’m not voting for him because I think we could be buddies, but because I believe that out of the two options we have, he has done less against women than (Clinton) has.”

Kelshaw said what “speak(s) volumes as to the kind of woman (Clinton) is” are her actions, which include her sentencing of rapists, and the way she helped cover up her husband’s actions against women.

“As a woman,” she said, “I can’t stand behind a woman who covers up or makes things go away, like she has when it comes to women’s abuse.”

Kelshaw said as a former part of the military, the Supreme Court and national security are especially important to her.

“I don’t trust her to protect the family and friends that I have in the military,” Kelshaw said of Clinton. “I’d really like to see our national defense rebuilt.”

Kelshaw said she believes that the U.S. military has been shrunk to the point where it is almost completely ineffective if anything were to happen. Trump wants to audit the Pentagon completely and emphasize cyber warfare and missile defense in order to modernize the navy vessels, she said.

Common misconceptions about vocal Trump supporters are that they are misinformed, Schile said.

Schile favored Trump’s supreme court selections in comparison to those of other presidential candidates; his tax plan, which would make companies internationally competitive again; his removal of many deductions within overly-complicated tax code, or the tax code itself, so people can’t avoid paying what they should in their tax bracket; his approach to free trade; and his proposal for an amendment for term limits in congress.

What appeals to Vega is Trump’s patriotism, demonstrated through his policies, which Vega said put America first. He said Trump is honest and his solutions will make America great again, citing his tax policies, wall to curb illegal immigration, renegotiated trade deals, and the candidate’s ability to restructure U.S. relations with other nations such as Russia and others in NATO.

Vega said he has been flipped off, spit at and told numerous times he is not a “real Mexican” for supporting Trump or voting Republican. He recalled being called a token for the College Republicans, an organization he is an active member of, at the Trump wall rally hosted in October on the Glenn Terrell Friendship Mall.

“If anything,” Vega said, “it encourages me to be more outspoken and more vocal with my identity as a minority who is conservative and bringing out other minorities who are in the same boat but think they’re alone.”