Contra Costa GOP members head to President-elect Trump's inauguration
The East Bay will be well represented in Washington during President-elect Trump's inauguration as a number of member of the Contra Costa County Republican Party head east for the celebration.
Contra Costa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Burns has some busy days ahead of the presidential inauguration on Monday.
"I have a new tuxedo and a new suit! Yes, because I haven't had a new tuxedo in a very long time," Burns said as he told CBS News Bay Area about his plans. "Sunday night, we've got a California legacy ball that we're going to, which is a number of California-elected Republicans and Republicans from all over California that are coming over for the inauguration. It's going to be over 300 people."
Burns represents about 137,000 registered Republicans in Contra Costa County.
"I've got this great picture right here on my desk. This is a picture of myself, and my wife Stacey and then President Trump in 2019 at an event in Palo Alto," he shared.
Some political experts say the country is going through a mix of shock and elation in the days leading up to Monday's inauguration.
"It's a very interesting time in American politics. I think we're going through what they call a realignment, which is when both parties are redefining themselves. And they'll probably hold onto whatever definitions come out of the Trump era for the next 30 or 40 years," said Dr. Nolan Higdon, professor of history and media studies at UC Santa Cruz. He also used to teach at Cal State East Bay.
"I think there were a lot of folks who spent the first Trump term defending from what they saw was attacks from Democrats. 'He was an illegitimate president.' They now think with his victory in the popular vote, that this makes him a legitimate president," Higdon said.
He adds that Trump coming to power again four years later has a deeper symbolic meaning.
"Regardless to whether you're a Trump supporter or a Biden supporter or whatever, when a country goes one direction for four years and then undoes that and goes a different reaction and undoes that and goes back another four years, that's emblematic of a country that doesn't really have a vision, doesn't have a direction. It really is symbolic of the Gilded Age period," Higdon said, referring to the post Civil War era of rapid industrialization, wealth accumulation and urban growth between the late 1870s and the late 1890s.
As for Burns, he said Contra Costa GOP members have visions for the American economy.
"The voters you know made this loud and clear. I think everybody wants to have a secure border again and control who enters our country. We don't know who's coming in and where they come from," Burns said. "Trying to tamp down inflation, extending the tax cuts and getting this economy rolling again. Those are our two biggest priorities."
He mentioned that he did not attend Trump's first inauguration ceremony back in 2017, and so is even prouder of representing Contra Costa County the nation's capital this year.