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Interviews With Trump Supporters

Jan. 19, 2017
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After months of preparation, celebration, protests, scandals, and Twitter wars, we have reached inauguration day. 

November 8th left America divided, as 65,844,954 people were shocked when it was announced that Donald Trump would be the next President of the United States. 

As we can recall, chaos broke out, people were left angry, stunned, and confused. How could this happen? Who would vote for Trump? It became Republicans vs. Democrats, each side fighting a different battle and trying to make the other side wrong.

In the words of President Obama during his farewell speech, “If you’re tired of arguing with strangers on the Internet, try to talk with one in real life.”

So that’s exactly what I did. I sat down with three Trump supporter to discover why they voted for Trump, how they are feeling about his Presidency, and the negative accusations that surround him. 

James Ceccon, 26, a California Resident, voted for Trump despite the contradictory opinions of those surrounding him. He had followed Trump’s career and wasn’t surprised when he announced that he would be running for President. Ceccon felt that he would make a great leader through his unconventional methods and unfiltered commentary.   

“He was definitely very unconventional and I think that was part of his popular appeal,” Ceccon stated. “He wasn’t politically correct and he wasn’t polished on how he confronted people, but I think that’s why he won. He was able to bypass the media by going on Twitter. If he didn’t use Twitter, I don’t think he would be as popular. Is he going to let his political opponents define the battle for him, or is he going to define them on his own? I think one of the reasons he was really successful was that he drove the political narrative. Everything was Clinton responding to him on Twitter. Clinton was running against him, she didn’t really have anything to support, just that ‘he was bad and I’m not him’.”

Ceccon felt that Trump would create the America that he had envisioned, stating that there were many issues occurring that were not being addressed within our political system, and Trump was willing to take them on.  

“I thought there were two big issues that weren’t being addressed: immigration and the economic issues, particularity jobs and trade,” said Ceccon. “Since the 90s we saw tons of jobs go overseas to China and Mexico; millions of jobs through NAFTA and then through the free trade deals with China. We saw a lot of wealth created since 2000, but it was mostly going to the top, and a lot of the wealth of the middle class were being offshored overseas. So talking about the trade issue made him very popular and I agree with him there. The second issue was immigration and how both parties really never addressed the issue of immigration and not securing the border, as well as legal immigration. Which I think also made him popular, and I agreed with him.”

When asked what his thoughts were about the negative attention and accusations that surrounded Trump, Ceccon blamed the agenda of the media, claiming that they have created an unrealistic persona of Trump and make a point to only show the negative aspects of things that he says. 

In regards to Trump’s derogatory comments towards women, Ceccon felt that they were excusable and simply just him being frank.  

“The ‘grab them by the pussy’ comment- it’s not something you want to say in public, but it was supposed to be a private conversation. I think both sexes, both men and women, have said raunchy things. All he said was that as a rich guy he could get more aggressive with women and get away with it, and I think that’s probably just a fact. I think a lot of people who voted for him may have not liked him personally, but I don’t think it matters to have a president that you like. It matters that you have a president who gets the job done.”

 Maryam Nejad, a California resident, voted for Trump because she felt like she was picking the lesser of two evils. Although she has her concerns about his egotistic behavior, she feels that it’s his ego that will lead the country into economic success.   

“He is a narcissist; he is a very ego oriented person who likes to win,” Nejad stated. “That ego won’t let him fail though, he won’t want to look bad. It was nasty how he would talk about people. I didn’t like it, but he said what people actually wanted to say.” 

In regards to her hopes for Trump’s presidency, Nejad feels that he will benefit the economy and increase job availability. 

“He’s going to raise the stalk. Let’s try to save money and put it back in the country. I think he’s going to bring the jobs back too, people are tired of paying for those who aren’t working. My only concern is that he’ll insult other political rulers with his ego.”

Although as a woman Nejad thought his comments may have been crude, she believes that they were made into a bigger deal than they actually were. 

“I don’t think he hates women,” said Nejad. “I think feminists have blown everything at of proportion. He wouldn’t have all of the women working with him if he hated or disrespected women.”

Sharon Bates, 56, from Connecticut, voted for Trump because she believes that he will make the change she has been wanting to see in America, believing that he will ‘Make America Great Again’. 

“I voted for him for a lot of reasons, but the main one was he is NOT a politician.” said Bates. “My hopes for his presidency is that everything changes: free stuff gone, illegals gone, ISIS gone, America first. My concerns is that he will be killed before he can accomplish what needs to be done. Social media is loaded with garbage. The news media is no longer honest. I try not to listen to anything I see or hear. I studied both Trump and Hillary. I read his books, I researched her history.  To me he was the only choice.  We need change, real change.” 

  

Cover Image by Jodeci Zimmerman

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