What Do Kids Think Of Donald Trump? At Inauguration, America's Youth Debate New President

Balancing his small, sneakered feet on the lip of a planter as he impatiently waited Friday for the inaugural parade to start, Ronan McKerrow confessed he only knows three things about Donald Trump: His middle name starts with a J, he's 70 and he doesn't have much hair.

However, in true 8-year-old fashion, he has some suggestions for the new president.

"Give everyone floating cars," Ronan said, speaking over the shouting of nearby protesters positioned on Pennsylvania Avenue across from the Trump International Hotel. "Or special powers."

Ronan may have been the most ambitious child out of the thousands packed along the parade route Friday in hopes of catching a glimpse of the new commander-in-chief, but he certainly wasn't the only one there. Despite being years from being eligible to vote, America's youngest were not left out of the Trump celebrations. Small children lined the sidewalks Friday as helicopters buzzed overhead, the temperatures dropped and the scent of cigarette smoke lingered over their heads.

Ronan, a Washington, D.C., resident who only came to the parade because his dad promised him to get him ice cream afterward, said he's interested in seeing if Trump really can be president--and he's not alone. Even if their politics knowledge is spotty, kids of all ages have opinions on Trump.

"I didn't think he'd get elected, and then he did," Brindle Hodsoll, an 11-year-old from Virginia, said as she peeked out Friday from underneath a turquoise umbrella. Her 10-year-old brother, Francis, chimed in: "I put my hopes on the Libertararian party and Greenhouse party, but they didn't have a chance."

Kids paid close attention this election, if only because the campaign captivated their parents and the news media constantly playing around them. Trump's rhetoric had a particular effect--in the run-up to Nov. 8, several schools saw incidents related to the Republican nominee. A Wisconsin high school had to intervene during a soccer game when rival teens yelled "build that wall" at black and Hispanic players. At the University of California, San Diego, chalk graffiti reading "deport them all" appeared near a Latino student resource center.

But they were mindful of issues, as well. A Nickelodeon poll taken before Election Day found that two-thirds of kids between the ages of 8 and 13 said they were interested in the results of the race. Their top concerns for the next president were war and terrorism, equal rights and crime and violence.

Case in point: Jonah Frattasio, a 9-year-old from Boston decked out Friday in a red, white and blue USA TRUMP beanie, said he expects Trump to help defeat the bad guys and terrorists. He and his brother, 8-year-old Henry, agreed Trump will secure the world--in part because he's a "great man."

"He's a nice guy. He's rich," Jonah added, chewing on his the zipper of his raincoat. "Not all rich people have a good sense of humor."

A few blocks away, Taylor Walker, 18, and Melana Walker, 11, also expressed high hopes for the next president. The sisters from North Carolina were wearing red caps with Trump's campaign slogan, Make America Great Again, and said they supported the tycoon because of his views on health care, abortion and the Second Amendment.

"We're from the South, so we like to have guns in our house and don't want our guns taken away," said Taylor.

On the other end of the political spectrum was Jeremiah Goodwin. Jeremiah, a Texan who is almost 9, said Trump was "lying every single day" during election season and "being a bully to Hillary Clinton." If he could give advice to Trump, Jeremiah said he'd instruct the leader to "be nice, be cool, be patient and don't make fun of people."

Most youngsters, if they'd been able to vote, would have selected Clinton for president over Trump. In the 2016 Scholastic News Student Vote mock election, Clinton nabbed 52 percent of ballots cast by kids in kindergarten through 12th grade. Trump only got 35 percent, though a number of children used their votes to support Libertarian Gary Johnson, the late gorilla Harambe and bacon.

Whether they liked him or not, the kids at inauguration definitely had ideas for Trump's term. Jeremiah suggested a $5,000 bill, for example, and Jonah wanted an autograph.

The most specific proposal, however, came from Olivia O'Donnell, an 8-year-old in town for Saturday's Women's March on Washington.

Olivia, alternating standing under a tree and headbutting her mom Friday as the parade approached, suggested a new law: no school on Halloween.