ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
Donald Trump says something like this at nearly all of his rallies.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DONALD TRUMP: There's 7,000 people outside. We're trying to get them in.
SIEGEL: NPR's Scott Detrow was covering the Trump campaign this week.
SCOTT DETROW, BYLINE: And in Tallahassee, Fla., I was late. It happens. I was stuck outside the rally.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting) Let us in. Let us in.
DETROW: And I wasn't alone.
DALE LOCK: I'm out here trying to get in to support my man, Donald Trump, of course.
DETROW: That's 66-year-old Dale Lock, one of hundreds crammed against the gate chanting, even begging to pass through. He says Washington needs an outsider.
LOCK: That swamp needs to be drained. Those people can't just stay up there forever. They need to get out in the real world. These are real people you're looking at out here - real world, where you work eight hours a day.
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Nobody else is going to be allowed in the rally.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Booing).
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Nobody else is going to be allowed in the rally.
DETROW: Despite the announcement, the pro-Trump crowd lingered at the gate. Many kept trying to get in. Others wandered over to the highway to watch and sometimes yell at the hundreds of anti-Trump protesters on the other side of the road.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting) Donald Trump, go away - racist, sexist, anti-gay. Donald Trump, go away - racist, sexist...
DETROW: The two sides of the road were like parallel universes.
KELLY MAERE: My most important issue is a tough one, but I would say gay rights.
DETROW: Kelly Maere held a sign reading, this nasty woman votes.
MAERE: I came out here because I think Donald Trump is a national disaster.
DETROW: And on top of that, she says he's an all-around terrible person. Harsh words - but just about as harsh as how T.J. Ard frames Hillary Clinton.
TJ ARD: I mean just looking at supporting Hillary alone, that just turns your stomach. I mean how could you support somebody that's so evil?
DETROW: What Ard wants is for the country to be less dependent on government. No more handouts, he says. And that means no more Obamacare.
ARD: If they took Obamacare out, that would put $200 a week back in my pocket right off the bat.
DETROW: He and his friend Bill Mullis stand there and watch the anti-Trump protesters. Mullis says he just doesn't understand that side of the road.
BILL MULLIS: It boils down to a lot of anger. There's a lot of anger, but there's a lot of ignorance. There's a lot of ignorance. There're people that will stand on a platform and say you're wrong without seeing - without weighing it out - the truth.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting) Donald Trump, go away - racist, sexist, anti-gay.
DETROW: What do you see on the other side of the street?
MAERE: I see Confederate flags. I see American flags. And I see a lot of white people.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Guys, I need everybody to back up, please. Please back up.
DETROW: Two sides of the same road, two very different visions of America - but in a week and a half, either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump will have the task of trying to lead all of them. Scott Detrow, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
