As we approach the four-year anniversary of the January 6 riots, as well as the impending inauguration of President Trump for a second time, we find ourselves surprised at how we as a country got to this point again.
Right before election day, The Crimson Times ran a mock election. Even though Kamala Harris won the mock election with 56% of the vote,Trump did surprisingly well at 35% of the vote, even among a community full of immigrants and people of color.
We were curious what it was about Trump that allowed him to gain a surprising amount of support at Everett High School despite the way he has openly talked about deporting immigrants, and suspect that some of the same reasons that show up in student opinions were also what led him to overcome all the criticism and claim a resounding victory in the national election.
Some Trump supporters focused on how he was also a Christian and how they thought that he was going to save immigrants and help them benefit.
Some students chose him merely because they were familiar with him and because they knew more about him than Kamala Harris.
Others agreed with his position on abortion. “Leaving abortion rights up to the states is one that kind of stood out to me. I feel like it’s a better decision to leave it up to them to create their rules,” Rodriguez said.
Another factor, of course, was the economy and people’s opinions about what Trump might do to improve the economy. “I feel like tax cuts improve so companies don’t have to pay taxes so that they can hire more people and create more jobs,” Rodriguez said.
Even though some students showed support for Trump, others definitely had some worries. Some people said they were scared for the next four years because he acts out and makes bad decisions sometimes.
One main issue about his policy was border control and deportation. Most students are or know people who are immigrants. They said it’s hard to fathom the fact that the people they know may get separated from them due to deportation.
“I think Donald Trump is very racist,” senior Dorinda Vilson said. “He doesn’t want to fight for immigrants. He doesn’t care. He wants to limit people from coming into the country,”
It is important to understand and ask about the views and opinions of young students who will soon be able to have their voices heard and vote. Even though the majority favored Kamala Harris, it was interesting to see both parties and watch them speak passionately with expressions about these strong political figures.
