Meet the guy who's gone to every inauguration for 28 years
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A military band rehearses at the US Capitol ahead of the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump. Photo: Kent Nishimura / AFP
When President-elect Trump takes the Oath of Office on Monday, most of the audience will be on TV, but Jared Loftus will be there, watching it unfold live from the audience.
Why it matters: It'll be the Metairie entrepreneur's seventh time attending a U.S. presidential inauguration.
- "I'm just some guy," he says, "but I've found myself in a ballroom with the president for the last 25 years."
What he says: "No matter who wins or loses, there are people on both sides and, being there, you get to experience that ... peaceful transfer of power," he tells Axios New Orleans. "We take it for granted that that's how it's supposed to go."
How it started: Loftus voted in a presidential election for the first time when he was a student at LSU, and he got an invitation to go watch the inauguration.
- "From there, it turned into a whirlwind of 'let's go to the next one and the next one,'" he says.
- Now, he applies for a spot in the audience in the summer before the election even happens. Sometimes, he says, he's in the nosebleeds, and other times he's gotten a seat near the front.
The intrigue: Loftus has gotten used to a bit of serendipity with his trips every four years.
- One time, he ran into former President Jimmy Carter in the Atlanta airport. Sometimes, he's gotten invited to inaugural balls; other times, he's been able to sneak in.
- "In a lot of ways, it's like Mardi Gras," Loftus says. "You kinda have to be there to get in on the action."