Thin with a boyish face and earrings in both ears, 23-year-old Isayah Turner does not look like a stereotypical Trump supporter, who tend to be middle aged or older.
Nevertheless, Turner drove two hours from his home outside Milwaukee on a recent Tuesday to see Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, one of a contingent of young voters there that some opinion polls suggest could be a growing and important demographic for Trump.
For Democratic incumbent Joe Biden, who overwhelmingly won the youth vote in 2020, an erosion of his support among young voters could potentially dampen his hopes of a second term.
Turner, who runs a dog breeding business with his mother, voted for Trump in 2020. He supports Trump's pro-oil drilling stance, his opposition to gun control - Turner owns several firearms - and his pledge to crack down on illegal immigration.
I don't know that it's overt racism per se. I think Isayah is one of many who have been brainwashed by the overt racists to think that immigrants and queer people are the cause of all the country's problems. Not even just the right-wing news. It's crept over to the mainstream. Every time it's an election year, we suddenly have a massive immigration problem and it's something the entire media landscape decides to focus on.
I'm in Canada. We don't have an "illegal immigration" problem, but the biggest problem faced by our country (the housing crisis), according to our mainstream political parties, and pushed by the media, are international students.
Never mind that provincial governments have cut academic funding to the point where schools cannot keep up with rising costs without increasing tuition fees. However that is a highly unpopular option, and many governments have tuition freezes in place. Instead, these schools rely on international student fees to supplement their revenues. International students pay more in tuition, and tuition freezes do not apply to them.
Never you mind that there are a lot of diploma mills that have popped up because there isn't a lot of regulation in this space. The student body in these places are almost entirely international students, who end up with useless degrees or diplomas, but the owners walk away with a fat paycheck.
Never mind that international students rent, often sharing spaces with several other people. Again, because there isn't regulation in the area, preventing unscrupulous landlords from shady practices (a recent pilot program by one municipality to regulate rental units - which mainly affects basement dwellings in single family homes - has seen an incredible amount of opposition by landlords).
Unfortunately none of that is reported in the right wing news ecosystem 😑 I wonder how many Republican supporters know that their congressfolk voted no on that immigration reform bill to, essentially, own the "libs?" Doesn't really excuse behavior, tho.
Younger voters views are a reflection of their media diet, no different than any person.
How much do you want to bet this young person has the exact same views as older Republicans? The problem with conservative families is they raise their young not to question authority, so it's especially hard to deprogram the rot.
Don't mock the young when it's old cranks grooming the youth to believe GOP propaganda.
They're also often highly reflective of their environment as far as the community and family they grew up with. Some people pick their own beliefs as they grow up, most don't.
I will never understand Trump's appeal to anyone, but it's an undeniable fact that he is appealing to some people. I think we should try to figure out why, objectively.
Uninformed, uneducated and isolated from other opinions.
Conman wears your team color. Conman says he agrees with you, and not to listen to others, cause they are liars.
The only real solution to this is to invest in education and separate education from religion and politics. Make it free and easily accessible and digestible to everyone at any time. No private education. No home schooling.
Education makes good citizens that makes good decisions.
My experience says a lot of these people bought into the "fake news" narrative, where they conveniently don't believe anything presented to them, no matter how digestible -- unless it reinforces things they already believe.
My mother goes on about how "science" can be used to prove anything, and "science" gets it wrong so often, so she won't believe anything she reads. While turning around and saying she found out Planned Parenthood is harvesting and selling baby parts, which is why they want mass abortions across the US
From a Canadian point of view I'd say it has to do with established DC holding the status quo at all costs. Whatever Trump is - and he embodies some of the worst of humanity - he is radically different than the usual group who seek office. And that can be a real draw for those that Washington seems to have left behind.
We need better choices. People in general are searching for justification to support their forced illogical decision of who they vote for to lead our fragile country. Its a sad state of affairs.