RENO — Some 150 people braved near blizzard conditions Friday to attend a breakfast party celebrating Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The event at the Grand Sierra Hotel in Reno was sponsored and paid for by U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei, who served as Trump’s Nevada campaign director. He said it was paid for with his campaign funds.
Developer Steve Hartman of Carson City said the event was typical Amodei: “He actually meets with the people he represents and finds out what they need.”
Hartman said that attitude isn’t typical of Congress members who he said generally don’t go seek out the folks in their district. Amodei, he pointed out, is always on the road across western and Northern Nevada when he isn’t in Washington, D.C.
“That’s the most important piece of the puzzle with him,” Hartman said.
The event drew a cavalcade of contributors, lobbyists, campaign workers and elected officials including State Sen. Heidi Gansert and Assemblywoman Lisa Krasner, both of Reno, Washoe County Sheriff Chuck Allen and Washoe Commissioner Bonnie Weber.
“This is just to say ‘thank you,’” Amodei told the audience. “The idea here was to give me an excuse to not stand outside for hours in Washington, D.C.”
Andy MacKay representing the state’s auto dealers said the inauguration is “historic — it always is.”
“There’s so much hope, as there was with the previous administration, to accomplish something,” said developer George Peek. “I hope this one succeeds where the other one failed.”
Amodei conceded Trump’s presidency will be controversial, adding “every four years people say this is the worst one.”
“Controversial will probably be the nicest thing people will say about him,” Amodei said. “But I’d rather be going down this road than where we were going.”
He said the only way Trump has to deal with his detractors is to do a good job and that’s what he hopes will happen. To do so, he said he expects Trump’s first 100 days to be “pretty breakneck.” He urged people to give Trump a chance.
After Trump was sworn in, Amodei told the audience there wasn’t really a program for the day, that they were free to mingle, talk or leave if they had other things to do.