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Hundreds of Trump supporters celebrate inauguration at Naples watch party

Posted at 6:14 PM, Jan 20, 2017
and last updated 2017-01-20 18:44:51-05

Waving small American flags and wearing red, white and blue, hundreds of Donald Trump supporters gathered at ROW Restaurant in Naples to watch the President-Elect become the 45th President of the United States. 

"It just feels like a new year, it feels like New Year's Eve," said Donna Algier, one of many Naples residents who watched the inauguration ceremony on the big TV at ROW. 

Shawn Khan, of the Collier County Republican Executive Committee, is anxious to see the man he helped vote into office start making changes.

"A lot of us are hoping that he will get to work on repealing and replacing Obamacare as soon as possible, as well as working on border security," Khan said.

Collier County Democratic Chair Yudy Barbera was in Washington, D.C. for the inauguration. She said she's concerned about some of the changes Trump has promised to make.

"There's many things that we feel are in jeopardy," Barbera said by phone from the ceremony. "The advances with health care, the situation with immigration reform, and of course reproductive rights."

Debbie Cooper organized the inauguration watch party at ROW because she wanted to celebrate the first president to come from outside the political arena.

"He is going to treat America like a business, and it should be treated like a business," Cooper said. "We're huge, we're fabulous...we're a business."

"I think that's one of the reasons this day is so historic, because he doesn't have a background in politics," Khan said.