Donald Trump says he hates our “stupid” political establishment. But even in the heart of Washington, DC, among the Beltway’s young urban professionals, there was a genuine outpouring of love for The Donald as he took the stage for the first GOP primary debate Thursday night.

“Go Donald!” a man shouted as he was introduced at the beginning of Fox News' broadcast. The debate-watching party was sponsored by the DC Young Republicans, the Log Cabin Republicans, a women’s GOP group, and the District’s own Republican Party—hardly the contingent of the party hungry for red-meat.

But the crowd that packed into the bar in Adams Morgan, not far from downtown, liked Trump for the same reasons that every other Trump fan seems to like him: for being himself. “He is—in colloquial terms—a real person, he’s not bullshitting you,” said Micah Serrant, 24, a black gay Republican who supports Trump, though he’s leaving the door open for Ted Cruz. “I want to feel proud of America.”

Facing tough questions from the Fox News moderators about his businesses that went bankrupt, Trump retorted: “These lenders are not sweet little babies—these lenders are total killers!”

Serrant turned to me, impressed. “You see what I mean? He says what he thinks—he resonates!”