Denver teacher was among those in DC for the inauguration of President elect Donald Trump
With ball gowns and ball hats covered in bling, Denver school teacher Priscilla Rahn was among hundreds of thousands of people who were in the nation's capital to see history in the making on Monday.
"As soon as Trump won, I booked my plane," she told CBS Colorado before her departure for the nation's capitol.
Rahn is a lifelong Republican but maybe not your typical fan of President Donald Trump. She's half Black and half Asian and has been a leader in both the Denver teachers' union and Colorado Republican Party.
"I consider myself a Fredrick Douglass Republican, which means that I believe in the life-empowering values of our Constitution -- the right to life, the right to bear arms, women's' rights," she said.
Trump, she says, embodies those values.
"I think he speaks to the issues that are kitchen table issues that are important to me. Affordability, strong, safe borders, our military. And he doesn't talk down to me," Rahn said.
Or people like her, she says.
"President Trump increased the Black vote by plus-7. That tells you something -- that even in the Black community they're not buying the rhetoric that the media put in our faces for four years about who he is because it's just not true," she said.
She admits Trump is not without flaws.
"We might not like his tweets and we might not like his personal behavior. And that's all legitimate."
But she says his plan to address issues like border security supersedes that.
Rhan is a master music teacher in Denver Public Schools, where thousands of migrants have strained resources.
She says she's not anti-immigrant. Her mom and husband both immigrated to the U.S., and she doesn't blame migrant kids.
"I see them as a child of God," she said.
She does blame the Biden administration.
She admits she's taken backlash in a state that overwhelmingly voted for Democratic ticket.
"(But) over time people have started to see what I see," she said. "I think it's the way that I communicate my disagreement."
"Someone might have a "D" or an "R" but they're still a human being; they still have value."
While she may be a bit of a political unicorn these days, she believes the inauguration will highlight a diversity under the MAGA tent that may surprise some.
"It's a great opportunity, just to be part of a great celebration," she said.