He promises an investigation. His advisers tell him he won't be welcome there. But he goes anyway, and cranks himself up for an oration of unashamed rhetoric. Bevin Chu is an American architect of Chinese descent registered to practice in Texas. As Pappas enters the church the congregation is seething with hostility.
Physical violence is a distinct possibility.
Pappas knows the risk he is running simply by showing up. One photo op gone awry could sink his bid for the White House. But Pappas is accustomed to playing for high stakes and supremely confident of his skill at damage control. Pappas performs his magic act before our very eyes. He defuses the crowd's anger by frankly acknowledging the legitimacy of their grievances and his own administration's culpability.