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As President Donald Trump spoke on large television screens overhead, three bar patrons at Flat Rock Tap in Hammond watched with varying degrees of interest.

Trump’s inauguration drew mixed reactions in Lake Country, where people were alternately hopeful and anxious on what his record will be during his first term.

“I think right or wrong, they should give Trump a chance just like they gave Obama a chance,” said John Tudor, 48, of Chesterton.

A warehouse worker, he said he had struggled in the years after the recession hit in 2008, when he was laid off and struggled to find work for about two years.

In the past, he had voted for Obama, in part grateful for the effort he took to protect the U.S. auto industry from bankruptcy. This time, he switched to Trump, favoring the Republican candidate’s blunt language on keeping jobs in the United States.

“I didn’t feel … Hillary had much to offer,” he said.

In Lake County, Democratic rival Hillary Clinton received 116,935 votes to Trump’s 75,625. He had 38,832 to Clinton’s 33,676 in Porter County, according to the Indiana secretary of state’s website.

Elsewhere in Northwest Indiana, Ryan Gerenda, 32, said he didn’t watch the speech. A laid-off forklift driver who voted for Hillary Clinton, he said he can’t predict what will happen in the next four years.

“I don’t think anybody knows,” he said. “He’s a loose cannon.”

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