by Huang Heng
PHOENIX, the United States, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) - Twenty-year-old Patrick walked around the Phoenix Convention Center, saying to himself, "It's amazing," as the temperature in downtown Phoenix reached 41 degrees centigrade late Tuesday.
It took Patrick 15 minutes to find the end of the line waiting to join U.S. President Donald Trump's rally in the city, the capital of Arizona state, and it then took him two and a half hours to enter the hall, where about 20,000 supporters were cheering for the president.
At the same time, about 2,000 protesters gathered outside the convention center, shouting "No Trump. No KKK. No Fascism in USA," and "Shame on you" at the line of people stretching for about one kilometer, among whom Patrick stood.
"CNN will never shoot us. They will never tell the world we love Trump. The media only likes to protest," Patrick told Xinhua, noting that this is his fourth time attending a Trump rally.
"The media makes us hate each other," he added.
When Trump mocked CNN in his speech Tuesday, the 20,000-strong crowd responded with boos and chanting "CNN sucks," which lasted more than a minute.
Joseph Cririlla, 31, living in the suburb of Phoenix, told Xinhua that he went to the convention center at about 2 a.m. Tuesday, but he was not the first person in line; somebody had been sleeping there from midnight.
Cririlla is a computer engineer, who moved from Colombia to Arizona at the age of three.
"I am Republican. I think it's an opportunity to see the president and the vice president. I am excited," he said, adding that most Trump supporters are not white supremacists like the mainstream media claim. "So far, I have not seen any white supremacist show up."
"For the violence in Charlottesville of Virginia, it's an unfortunate thing, but violence there can't represent our majority," he told Xinhua. "We are not racists or KKK. We are true heart patriots."
Brian Ratchford, a middle-age man from Tuscon, Arizona, wearing a firefighter-style white helmet and holding a sign with "Make America Great Again" with a handgun at his belt.
"I come here because I support President Trump. I favor what he is doing," he said, emphasizing his other purpose to be here is to "protect people."
"White Supremacists are bad; Anitifa is the same," he told Xinhua. "I am here, so they will not show up. I am not a bad guy. Trump is not racist."
He also blamed the uproar in Charlottesville on the media. "They don't want truth. They never interview us. (They) just talk with opposing people."
"If you want to denounce some people, you should take true information first." He said CNN is the worst of all "fake news."
A round badge printed "CNN is Fake News" sold out faster than any other souvenir, a peddler told Xinhua.
However, protesters outside the rally and all around the country believe accusations of so-called "fake news" is a means by Trump to polarize the country.
"Trump claims the media is fake news. It's ridiculous... Fake news is news coming from Trump Tower. He is a liar, so he has to make everyone believe the regular media is not correct," Robin Kent, 64, a retired lady told Xinhua.
Bre King, a 32-year-old teacher, joked she can't care about the president's tweets because they are always posted too early in the morning.
Trump tries to cover his lies so he labels the media as fake news, she said, adding that "His news is fake."
Behind King, there is James, a Haitian immigrant selling T-shirts, both pro-Trump and against him. He sold out his more than 1,000 T-shirts on Tuesday, each costing 20 dollars.
"I come here just for money," he said. "I can tell you Trump's T-shirt is much more popular than Hillary's. Obama's is good too."
On a street corner, a lady in a red shirt sits under the sun holding a placard saying, "Make America Love Again."
