CALISTOGA, Calif. — As Donald Trump strode purposefully into the Capitol Rotunda for his swearing-in as president, Gary Himelfarb had already had enough.
“I’m getting sick just seeing him,” he said.
“I feel sorry for you, Gary,” his friend Jack Minckler replied.
Trump’s installation as the nation’s 47th president was, for some, a day of celebration and glory, his nationally broadcast restoration a mustn’t-miss opportunity to watch and revel in his remarkable political comeback.
For others it was a blot on history, a cause for horror and despondency and a reason to stay far, far from a television set or anywhere the sound of Trump’s triumphant voice might carry.
It all depended on your perspective and political viewpoint.
Neither Himelfarb nor Minckler, neighbors in this small slice of the wine country, are what you’d call hard-core political activists. That may explain the reason they get along and why the two agreed to watch Trump’s inauguration together over coffee and morning buns in the loft of Himelfarb’s small A-frame on a quiet side street.
They settled beside each other on a green sofa in front of a big-screen TV tuned to CBS, a more-neutral alternative to other, unabashedly pro- or anti-Trump networks.
Himelfarb, 70, a Kamala Harris supporter who describes himself as very liberal, was pushing 40 the first time he voted in a presidential election, casting his ballot for Bill Clinton.
He sat with a stricken look as Trump delivered his address, emitting a quiet suite of grunts, groans and a few curse words. When the Rev. Franklin Graham suggested in his opening prayer that Trump’s victory has been a gift from the Lord, Himelfarb harrumphed, “God didn’t do this.”
Views of the 47th president, from the ground up
Minckler agreed. “I doubt God had much to do with it,” he said.
Minckler, 70, said he became a Republican largely because that’s how he was raised. A fiscal conservative and moderate on social issues, he backed Trump all three times he sought the White House, but said it was largely a party-line vote. Still, he was glad Harris lost, considering the former vice president vastly unqualified to serve in the Oval Office.
Minckler sat impassively, three feet from Himelfarb, with his arms folded as he took in Trump and his celebratory air.
“You feel liberated?” he asked his friend when Trump declared his day of ascension to be America’s “Liberation Day.”
“I’m going to be living my life,” Himelfarb said, resignedly.
“I’m just glad it’s over,” Minckler replied, summing up the thoughts of many after a long and exceedingly vicious presidential campaign.
The two met through a shared interest in antiques.
Himelfarb owns a small antique shop on the main drag into Calistoga, where the gregarious proprietor is a familiar sight on the store’s broad front porch, waving at passers-by. Minckler, who has an antique shop in Petaluma, about an hour away, lives around the corner from Himelfarb’s business.
Jack Minckler, left, and Gary Himelfarb generally don’t discuss politics, which may be why they get along so well.
(Mark Z. Barabak/Los Angeles Times)
Both arrived from elsewhere. Himelfarb spent most of his life in the music business on the East Coast, popularizing reggae in the U.S. as a producer and founder of his own record label. He moved to Calistoga, a small town famous for its hot springs and mud baths, in 2016.
Minckler, who owned a company that manufactured and sold high-end furniture and upholstery, moved to the wine country from Portland in 2018, after years of vacationing in Calistoga.
Back in the loft, the two bantered, with more amiability than antagonism.
“Does anybody fact-check him?” Himelfarb asked, after Trump embarked on one of several fanciful flights.
“Gary, do you really believe what most politicians say?” Minckler asked.
“No,” Himelfarb responded.
“That’s crazy, taking back the Panama Canal!” Himelfarb exclaimed at another point, after Trump promised to do just that.
“Oh, he’s just negotiating now,” Minckler assured him.
There were other areas of consensus, beyond God’s agnostic stance on the 2024 election.
“He’s taking over the country,” Himelfarb said when the camera panned on Elon Musk, applauding Trump’s promise to plant the Stars and Stripes on Mars. “I think we ought to take care of the Earth” instead of pouring money into space travel, Himelfarb said.
“One hundred percent,” Minckler agreed.
When Trump said the American people had spoken, returning him to power, Himelfarb conceded the point.
“That’s the truth,” he said.
“It is,” Minckler said.
“You got him,” Himelfarb said of the politically revivified Trump. Then, sarcastically, “Amen.”
As Trump wound down his nearly 30-minute address, Minckler worked in a small jab: “You think Biden’s still awake?”
“At least Biden showed up,” Himelfarb shot back.
Afterward, both praised Trump for his firm delivery and what Himelfarb described as a clear sense of mission — something, he said, Democrats seemed to lack.
“It’s kind of nice to have somebody that can give a whole speech without stumbling,” Minckler said. “I think he’s going to put strength back in the United States again. I think the world needs a leader.”
He feels quite optimistic going forward, expecting Trump to fare better in a second administration with the experience he took away from the first.
If he keeps interest rates down, tames inflation, keeps the U.S from going to war and grows the economy enough to put a dent in the national debt, Minckler said, he’ll consider Trump’s second lease on the White House a success.
Himelfarb is less sanguine.
He worries about Trump rolling back civil liberties, including the right to abortion in states where it still exists, and targeting Latinos with cruel and punitive immigration policies.
He allowed as how, yes, America can be made into a better place. But will Trump and his policies make it so? All anyone can do, he suggested, is wait and see.
And hope.
“He got elected,” Himelfarb said. “We can’t undo this election. So we have Trump for four years.”
Good naturedly, Minckler offered his support.
“Gary,” he said, “I’ll come over and console you every day.”
“Thanks, Jack,” Himelfarb replied.
