WASHINGTON – Kelly Mann stood outside Capital One Arena early Monday, squinting in the winter sun and leaning against a cart with red MAGA hats and colorful gold chains bearing the face of Donald Trump, the soon-to-be sworn-in president.
It was 23 degrees and sunny in the country's capital. That was an improvement, Mann said, compared to Sunday, when freezing rain and snow flurries fell on Washington.
“I mean, if it wasn't so damn cold it would still be cool to be here because Trump rallies are a party,” the 57-year-old tchotchke seller said. “I’m a Trump guy through and through.”
Mann traveled from La Verne in the San Gabriel Valley to sell his Trump trinkets ahead of the inauguration, which was moved to the Capitol Rotunda because of the freezing temperatures.
Most people who traveled to Washington to watch the event in person were relegated to the nearby Capital One Arena to watch a livestream of the official ceremony.
Trump said on his Truth Social platform that he planned to join the crowd in the arena for a modified presidential parade before closing the day with a dizzying program of three inaugural balls.
Mann said he lived in Pacific Palisades as a child and was appalled by what he saw as poor leadership by Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass during the Palisades and Eaton fires.
Mann said of Trump: “Everyone is excited about him.”
And from California: “We will turn this state red. Gavin Newsom should be ready after that.”
Nevertheless, Mann is a businessman. Over the weekend, he sold Women's March paraphernalia and Rainbow Pride flag gear before a protest march on the National Mall.
Outside the sports arena, red MAGA caps, hats and scarves covered people waiting in a long line to be let in.
At the Capitol, members of a University of Nebraska-Lincoln choir, wearing bright red scarves representing their school, practiced the song “One Voice” – “This is the sound of two voices / the sound of me singing with you / “help each other” to make it happen.”