An Irish woman who set up a pro-Donald Trump website has called the President the "greatest humanitarian who ever walked on this planet."
Sarah Louise Mulligan founded "Irish Who Love President Trump" shortly after his election win in 2016. She felt he got a raw deal in the Irish and American media and wanted to highlight the positive aspects of his presidency.
"I believed he needed an Irish platform because I knew lots of people in Ireland liked him, and I wanted to educate people on all the goodness he was going to do for America," Mulligan told IrishCentral.
"I was so upset with the Irish media. They were so hateful and disrespectful and I just couldn't understand where all this hatred was coming from. You can't judge anybody. Only God can judge people."
Mulligan believes that Trump's pro-life stance makes him the "greatest humanitarian" to ever walk the earth.
"I'm pro-life and the fact that he wants to protect babies in the womb and that he has stood up for unborn babies is one of the great things he has done for humanity."
Trump's pro-life stance has garnered support among conservative groups, whilst simultaneously losing him support from liberal groups. For Mulligan, the issue is non-negotiable.
Mulligan with her late grandfather Kevin
Mulligan, a performing artist who studied teaching at St. Patrick's College in Dublin, was due to travel to the United States in September to help out on Trump's re-election campaign.
The COVID-19 pandemic put paid to those plans, forcing Mulligan to watch on from Ireland as Trump bids to beat the odds and win four more years in the White House.
Mulligan, however, believes that Trump will sweep to another unlikely election success.
"I believe he's going to have a serious landslide. I think more people are going to vote for him than the last time."
She believes that Trump, who was widely condemned for his performance in the first presidential debate, gave a much stronger and more dominant performance than Joe Biden.
"I think President Trump gave a more powerful, dominant performance than Joe Biden. Biden has had 47 years to help America and suddenly thinks he's going to do it now."
Viewers and politicians alike slammed the President for interrupting Joe Biden on a regular basis during the much-maligned debate, but Mulligan believes that Trump was forced to behave as he did.
"I believe that he was very loud and a little bit forward in the last presidential debate because both Joe Biden and the moderator seemed to be ganging up on him. He had to be slightly boisterous. He had to interrupt."
Chris Wallace, a Fox News presenter, is widely believed to be the most conservative moderator of the three debates.
Mulligan's site, which consists of a collection of pro-Trump articles from a number of right-wing news sources, claimed that the President "devoured" Joe Biden in the first debate.
The site is ardently pro-Trump and vehemently anti-lockdown and has attracted almost 100,000 viewers, according to Mulligan.
A number tracker at the very top of the site also notes that more than 53,000 Irish people have pledged their support to the controversial President by giving their private details to Mulligan.
For Mulligan, Irish interest in the US President is no great surprise.
"I know the website is no masterpiece, but I never thought it would reach 100,000. People are very curious about President Trump and they have a little bit more time on their hands because of this pandemic."
But setting up a website in support of Trump, who is hugely unpopular among the majority of Irish people, was almost definitely going to make Mulligan unpopular in certain circles. However, she has been able to brush off all criticism.
"When I started speaking in favor of Trump, I did get abuse from fellow university students who called me a devil worshiper, but I'm well able to stand up for myself."
Much of the criticism directed toward Trump stems from the President's handling of immigration and the COVID-19 pandemic, but Mulligan believes he has performed well on both counts.
She pointed to his decision to close the American borders to Chinese passengers at the very beginning of the outbreak, a decision that was criticized by Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi.
However, Trump has faced widespread scrutiny for his continued attempts to downplay the danger of the pandemic and for his months-long refusal to wear a face mask. The President faced even further criticism when an interview with veteran journalist Bob Woodward emerged.
The President revealed in the interview, recorded in February, that he was aware of how dangerous the virus was but decided to downplay it anyway to avoid a panic.
Mulligan, however, believes that Trump showed good leadership by downplaying the virus.
"I think this COVID-19 thing took everyone by surprise and I think he didn't want to scare people, as a leader does. He wanted to remain strong."
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