Why I Didn’t Vote For Trump in 2016, But I Will in 2020

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

I am a white, straight, millennial woman in the suburbs; by all those statistics, I shouldn’t like Trump. And I didn’t in 2016. I grew up in a family that just checks the Republican box when it came to all elections. But with my first opportunity to vote in 2012, I wanted to do some research about the candidates before I voted — I ended up voting Republican anyway. When 2016 rolled around, I couldn’t bring myself to check “R.”

2016

In college, I wanted to find a news outlet I could watch every day and get my fill of current events. I loved stories about heroes, violent weather events, and the American dream. I tried to watch CNN and MSNBC, and I got tired of the fighting and bias. I tried FOX, and I got tired of the short segments. If I liked a person, I wanted them to keep talking, but FOX had to go to commercials.

I was trying The Morning Joe and Good Morning America during the 2016 presidential election. As the election went on, the coverage became more and more anti-Trump. Every morning I saw at least two of Trump’s outbursts and heard commentators condemn him. And I believed it. I was disgusted by the short clips of Trump talking about women, Mexicans, and the disabled.

In 2016, I voted for some bald Morman from Utah. I couldn’t bring myself to vote for either Hilary or Trump; neither seemed right for the job. Trump would make the economy better, but Hilary had lots of experience. The night of, I attended an election watch party where the hosts dressed up as Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton. When Trump won, I shrugged and hoped the future economy would give me a good job.

2017–2019

I tried to keep watching mainstream media but stuck to FOX News, thinking if this is the only way to get news, at least I’ll use a station that admits their bias and has the same bias as I do. About three months after my husband and I started dating, I said something to him about not liking the short segments on the news. He said, why don’t you watch Youtube videos.

Um, Youtube is for music videos, not news and current events.

He pulled up his app and showed me a half an hour interview with a person talking…