- President Trump at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in February. (Photo: Air Force Staff Sgt. Westin Warburton)
A few hours after the Mueller report was made public, we went to a Fred Meyer parking lot in Midtown Anchorage to ask Alaskans what they think of it, and whether they care.
“I’m not very interested,” said Mary Anne Wivholm, heading into the supermarket, “because I think it’s … consumed the whole country for the past two years, and that the results are exactly what a lot of people thought they were.”
“I read it,” said a man who gave his name as Boyan. “Yeah, Trump is clear. Move on. Just move on.”
So he actually read the report?
“Pretty much,” Boyan said. “Some of it.”
Jeanne Smith was following news of the report and said it upset her.
“I’m disappointed in Mr. Mueller,” Smith said. “I felt like he could have been a knight in shining armor that could have brought our country together around integrity and the rule of law. And the opportunity – I hope it hasn’t been lost. But it’s going to spin now.”
Gerald Atha supports the president and said Mueller lives up to his reputation as a good man.
“People got the wrong attitude. They’re looking at it the wrong way,” Atha said. “You can’t look at it as Democrat/Republican. You got to look at it as the globalists and the Americanists. The globalists want to destroy this country, so if you’re against Trump, you’re against this country.”
“I tell you what I think. I think it’s all B.S.,” said an elderly man who goes by his nickname, Punch. “They’re wasting time fighting one another and not getting anything done.”
The Mueller report was not top-of-mind for Jim Chaliak.
“Which report? … Oh yeah, the probe (into) the president,” Chaliak said. He said he wants to see Trump and other officials held to account, but he doesn’t expect it. “Election cycles come and go. So, this little piece of information will be helpful, for, I hope, many of our voters to make better decisions in the future.”
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her atlruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Lizhere.
