On their way to Disneyland, Eric Bernsen and his family left their hotel in the Anaheim resort area on Friday wearing Pooh hats, Maleficent ears and personalized Sleeping Beauty Castle shirts.

They didn’t know Donald Trump was in town, and as they left the lobby they were met with a surprise: a scuffle between local Democrats and supporters of the former president.

“We’ve never seen anything like this,” said Bernsen, 32, who brought his family from Fresno to celebrate his wedding anniversary at the theme park. “We had to stop and look.”

No one was injured or arrested, but people pushed and yelled in each other’s faces outside the convention center where Trump spoke to the California Republican.

Ada Briceo, chair of the Orange County Democratic Party, was crowded out and stretched out her arms to keep the two sides from a physical confrontation.

“Biden won in Orange County,” Briceo said. “It is very important for us to show that Trump is not welcome here.”

Throughout the morning and early afternoon, hundreds of Trump supporters gathered loudly as “God Bless the USA” sounded repeatedly. A prominent poster showed Trump beaming in monarchical garb next to the words BEND THE KNEE TO THE GREAT MAGA KING!

When Democrats tried to speak at a makeshift stage in front of the Hilton, Trump supporters interrupted them with shouts of “This is MAGA country!”

One of the Democrats, Gerlind Kennedy of Dana Point, shook her head.

“I don’t even know what that means,” Kennedy, 79, said. She walked up to the Trump crowd and said, “When you have radical people like that, they don’t understand the history of their country.”

Adrian Gonzalez, 26, from Los Angeles came out to support the former president. He waved a flag that said, “Don’t step on Trump.”

“He is putting America first and keeping our country safe by building a wall to keep our borders safe,” Gonzalez said. “He was also tough on China during the COVID pandemic. And he’s still standing after everything the Democrats threw at him.”

Kimberly Nguyen of Pasadena said she supported Trump because she left communist Vietnam in the 1990s and didn’t want America to become like the nation she fled.

“Without him, America has gone to hell in a handbasket,” Nguyen said.

Meanwhile, Disney tourists continued to arrive

group

gone, the glitter Mickey ears lost in a sea of ​​red shirts and Trump hats.

Erik

Bernsen, the tourist from Fresno, said his 8-year-old son, Brayden, was unhappy with the delay when his parents stopped to watch the argument. The boy thought about the rides.

“He’s a little frustrated with us right now,” Bernsen said, smiling at his son. “He said, ‘This is an adult thing and you said we were going to Disneyland, and now you better go find me the most expensive gift at Disneyland because I have to sit around and wait.’”

Ashlyn Bassetti, a native of Monterey County, pushed a stroller to the theme park, past the arguments between Democrats and Republicans.

“I woke up at 7 a.m. to the protests,” said 31-year-old Bassetti. “I couldn’t even sleep in during my vacation.”