“It is a sad state to think about America having a president that’s a felon.”
“ I’m Joe from North Carolina. I’m a former Trump supporter. I will not support him this election. I’ve been a registered Republican all my life, and I supported Donald Trump and voted for him in the election of 2020. Even after a pretty chaotic term, I still felt that, from the direction of the country, it was safer than what the opposition was.
“But after January 6th, I had to have a big rethink. And since that time, he’s done nothing to convince me that he is the right person to put back in the White House. Our country desperately needs strong leadership, not a narcissist. We need someone that can unite, not divide. Someone who can focus on the issues, not on himself.
“I think of the president as a role model. And as we look at our children, our grandchildren, we want them to be able to look up to the president and say, “That’s someone I want to emulate.” Not someone that’s bullying, not somebody that’s name-calling. Those certainly are not the traits that we want them to pick up.
“And finally, the biggest issue on my mind is that the world is in such an unstable state right now. It needs America more than ever to be in the leadership role. We need America to take a strong stand, to build alliances and strategic relationships with our allies, and take the lead on establishing the world order.
“I feel that what I saw President Trump do in his first term, how he performed — that was anything but what he did. He did his same bullying and although he says “America first,” he wasn’t thinking about how do we fit into the worldwide economy. We need somebody that can provide that leadership.
“When President Trump selected JD vance to be his vice president, my first reaction was — I steal this from somebody else who said it — it’s a MAGA mini-me. To me that reflected that he did not need any support. It’s back to him doing it alone. And recently at the National Association of Black Journalists, they asked him the question of whether Vance would be ready to serve on day one, if required.
“And he didn’t even answer the question. He just said, “Vice president doesn’t matter.” So it just showed further that it’s all about him, not about what team he’s building, how he wants to lead. So it leads me down to: How do you make a decision who to vote for? And I hate to say it, but I do feel that it is a choice of the lesser of two evils.
“And it’s a sad state that we’re in that position. But I am much more confident that we could recover from the damage caused by a Harris presidency than by a Trump presidency. So it’s going to be very difficult, but as I sit here today thinking about how I will vote, I’d have to lean in that direction.
“It is a sad state to think about America having a president that’s a felon. I just find that offensive. And so overall, former President Trump’s convictions did impact my opinion, although it didn’t surprise me. The biggest pushback I get from fellow conservatives is, “How can you support the left seeing where they’re going to take the country?”
“You have to look at the person. Yes, you are voting for a party, but we can’t lose sight of the fact we are selecting who we want our executive leader to be. Regardless of “the movement” or which direction the country’s going to head, you have to include that in the decision. You can’t just say, “No, I’m voting for the conservatives,” when unfortunately the person that’s a candidate is just not fit for the job.
“We can go back and change policies. We can change laws that might get put in place, but the damage in relationships that Trump can create, or other decisions that could really impact the world security or the economy — those really take a long time to recover from.”