‘Cowboys for Trump' riding horseback from Cumberland to the White House
POTOMAC, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - Cowboys for Trump was an idea turned reality for Couy Griffin and about a dozen of his friends from New Mexico.
"It's a grassroots effort on every front," Griffin explained.
A Facebook page turned into a GoFundMe and within a couple of weeks, the group was on a plane.
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"I'm really surprised how quickly it came together, we really didn't have a plan," Griffin said. "We just wanted to show President Trump we support everything he's doing."
Twelve horses were rented from a farm in Cumberland and the cowboys set off on the journey with a small support group that included some of their spouses.
"Plumbers, welders, hat makers and construction workers," Griffin added. "We come from a state that is affected by border security and immigration issues that we are seeing right now."
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The 185-mile journey placed the group in the middle of a heavy snowstorm that turned into freezing rain Wednesday, but the group rode on.
"The 15th of February is not the most pleasant time to ride out here in Maryland. We knew that we were going to hit some weather. We knew we'd be faced with some elements. We knew it was going to be snowing and storming on us. But every guy here is cowboy enough to get it done. We rode through the snow, the freezing rain and we did so because we want to stand strong as our president," Griffin said.
Kenney Whetham joined the group only about two days before departure and was surprised by the amount of support they received along the way.
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"Riding the C&O canal, some people are like, 'Hey, that's where the mules and the horses used to ride and tow the barge. That's cool to see horseback riders out here,' and then some of the locals that did ride with us for a while were like, 'We've never ridden the canal. We didn't know we could,'" Whetham described.
While they're unsure how or where their ride will end as it approaches the District, they're not coming empty-handed. They are riding with a custom made hat for President Donald Trump.
"I don't know if we'll get to see him or not, but we're going to find a way to leave him a hat. We'd love to see a picture of him with it on," Griffin said.
The horses will be trucked back to Cumberland before the group departs for New Mexico.
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