Opinion: I don't like Trump, but I'm voting for him. Here's why many Americans will, too.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
I 'm a Republican, but I don't like Donald Trump . I also don't identify with MAGA Republicans, especially the cult-like following the former president has here in Texas.
The riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, that Trump encouraged was the watershed moment that forced me to rescind my previous support for him. It was an egregious incident in American history.
For many reasons, I could make a compelling case that Trump is unfit for the presidency . I'll always be disappointed that Republican primary voters chose him again to represent millions of conservatives.
However, I will vote for Trump this election. About 75 million Americans, perhaps more, also will vote for him. Here's why.
Donald Trump's stronger on policy
When I was young and idealistic, I cared about a bevy of issues. As more of a purist then, I would have probably written in a candidate if Trump had been on the ballot when I was able to vote in my first or second election.
But I think that's shortsighted and silly now. There's so much at stake. Three things matter to me in this election: foreign policy, the economy and border security. Trump has shown he can handle all of these.
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris' economic plans are abysmal. They reflect purely socialist ideas , including handing out down payments for homes and a slew of "free" programs . America will go bankrupt trying to pay for Harris' planned bloated bureaucracy.
Under the Biden-Harris economy, inflation spiked to a 40-year high of 9.1% only two years ago. Grocery prices , rent, mortgage rates and auto prices remain high. Many Americans are struggling to pay for necessities as a result.
Trump's tax cuts, which he could extend if elected, are almost enough to garner my vote. Middle- and upper-class Americans pay far more than their fair share of taxes. Most families would be better off − and would stimulate the economy − with a few more dollars in their bank account.
I hope Trump doesn't implement his plan to impose additional tariffs on imports, but I prefer his economy to President Joe Biden's any day of the week. Inflation was manageable under Trump, and deregulating the energy industry would be a boon for everyone.
Foreign policy is another crucial matter. Under the Biden-Harris administration, the United States has looked weak. From Israel's war against Hamas, enabled in part by the Biden administration's decision to lift sanctions on Iran , to the withdrawal from Afghanistan and Russia's war against Ukraine, the world is dangerously unstable.
As billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman said in a viral interview , "All of this has led to a world on fire."
In politics, perception is powerful, and Trump is more likely to be perceived as a stronger leader than Harris. He is nothing if not a dealmaker, and that is what America needs in this moment of world history. If Trump reinstitutes sanctions on Iran and can quell the growing alliance among Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, peace may be possible.
Another issue in Trump's favor: The U.S. southern border must be taken seriously again. It's a matter of national security.
Under the Biden-Harris administration, Trump-era policies were reversed, allowing 8 million migrants to enter the United States, according to Axios . More than 1.7 million people entered the country illegally by evading Border Patrol. And smugglers brought an estimated 50,000 pounds of deadly fentanyl across the border.
If he does nothing else, Trump will secure the border for the well-being of U.S. citizens.
Kamala Harris is too extreme
I can't vote for Harris. I don't know how even moderates can.
The Democratic Party spent the past four years scolding Trump for undermining democracy, but then replaced our duly elected, aging and incoherent president as its nominee with Harris after the primary season had ended and she didn't win a single Democratic vote . It's the Democratic Party that has fractured the democratic process.
It has been hard to pin Harris down on what she believes . Her evasions are strategic and egregious. But when her ideas are clear, they expose the Democratic Party's embrace of progressivism.
Harris, alongside Biden, had four years to implement policies that would improve the lives of Americans. They failed. Gallup released a poll this month showing that 52% of Americans say they and their family are worse off today than they were four years ago. Only 39% said they are better off; 9% said they are about the same.
In 2024, we are a nation suffering from the lingering pain of runaway inflation, with a growing and unsustainable debt, in a world where devastating wars threaten to break into global conflict. This isn't the time to stay the course for four more years.
Tens of millions of Americans will vote for Trump
Three kinds of people will vote for Trump in this election, and it's important liberals and the mainstream news media − but I repeat myself − understand this.
Voters like me are conservatives who don't like Trump because we think he doesn't represent true conservative ideas. I'm also repulsed by his character flaws and legal troubles.
The second category of Trump voters are right-center Americans who can't find their values or ideas represented in the far-left version of the Democratic Party that Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, represent.
The last kind of person voting for Trump are those who like him − a lot. They think he defies norms, bucks trends and represents the marginalized middle American voter. They like that he schmoozes on golf courses he owns and yet will don a McDonald's apron to learn how to make french fries. They don't care that he isn't an articulate, consistent ideologue because they aren't.
Millions of voters are drawn to Trump because he seems pro-America, pro-military and pro-life. To these conservatives − a majority of the 74.2 million Americans who voted for him in 2020 − Trump is a fighter, a two-time survivor of assassination attempts and a symbol of the American dream.
I don't see Trump in that way, but I understand the views of those who do. It's important those views are seen and heard. And it's incredibly damaging and insulting when the current president refers to those of us who will vote for Trump as " garbage " ‒ even if in error.
This election, Donald Trump will draw all three of these types of voters by the millions. I'll be among them.
Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track , and get it delivered to your inbox .
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Concise and logical.
Well done, Nicole.
And for that many on the left will disagree with it.
And here is the problem in a nutshell, Most, not all, but most democrats would have been Torries in 1776, they want to be ruled and told what to do, they project king like powers on their leaders, that why you hear all the awful things trump will do, he will be a bad King, they don't have any faith in the checks and balances that our American fore fathers put in place to protect that. All you hear is trump will do this and trump will do that. And yet they have no explanation on why Biden doesn't have the same powers. it sure isn't because he is a benevolent leader, he thinks half the countries citizens are garbage.
Fighting against the colonist insurrection?
it sure isn't because he is a benevolent leader, he thinks half the countries citizens are garbage.
Obviously!
Some of this might be a reasonable argument for electing a generic Republican president. None of it is a good argument for electing Donald Trump. There are no reasonable arguments for electing someone who is completely unfit to hold public office, and demonstrates that fact every day.