“I cannot vote for Donald Trump because he epitomizes the worst of the people that we are.”
“My name is Ed. I live in Jacksonville, FL. I voted for Donald Trump in 2016, primarily because of his opponent. I did not vote for him in 2020. I will not vote for him in 2024. In 2020, I voted for Joe Biden in the general election. I will vote for Joe Biden again if Donald Trump is the Republican nominee in this general election.
And on Wednesday I changed my party affiliation from Republican to independent. I am a 24-year Navy veteran. I served in a war. I saw the ultimate sacrifice. I cannot vote for Donald Trump because he epitomizes the worst of the people that we are.
I saw this on January 6, 2021 when he incited an insurrection. And I don’t need a court of law to tell me that. I know what I saw on the live newsfeed. My wife, who is a liberal Democrat, and I turned on the news to watch the certification of the electoral vote in 2020, which took place on January 6, 2021.
What we saw was a riot, an insurrection, people causing destruction, death. Using bear spray on cops, beating police officers. So I know what I saw and I don’t need a court of law to tell me what I saw. That’s the red line for me as far as ever voting for Donald Trump again. Sadly, the Republican party has gone over to support him in great numbers, so I’ve got to disaffiliate with them. I just can’t support that.
That’s kind of how I’ve gotten to where I am. And regrettably, I did cast a vote for Donald Trump in 2016 thinking he would grow into the office and he didn’t. We saw it with COVID in early 2020. I’m kind of a news hound. So we put on the press conferences every day. We watch Trump get up there and talk about COVID.
My impression, having seen a lot of examples of leadership from Flag Officers on down, was that this guy is clueless. The nation was facing a crisis. He was clueless. I had supported him up to that point, and I just became increasingly uncomfortable with his response to COVID, to where, a couple months later in the primary, here in Florida, I voted against him.
I voted the straight ticket for many years, for decades, actually. I think Trump is a unique candidate, and not in a good way. I would say think about the character of the man versus the policies, and I think Trump’s character is very poor. I think he showed that in 2021. The republic depends on a peaceful transfer of power.
And we didn’t get that 2021. So if you have a difference of opinion regarding, say, Afghanistan, if you have a difference of opinion about the border, that’s policy — that’s not character. And I don’t trust Trump’s character. I started seeing it on a pretty much daily basis during COVID, where he seemed to be putting posturing and politics over the good of the country.
And I would ask my fellow citizens to vote for Biden for the good of the country. Because he’s not perfect. But right now he is a better deal for this two-hundred-and-something year experiment in American democracy. We might lose it if Trump gets elected. I’m concerned about that.”