Sticking with my pro Trump family

With the inauguration of the new president, comes a good time to reflect on the last four years. I have family in Texas, but I haven’t spoken to any of them much since Donald Trump was elected. So, for this story, I decided to contact my Texas relatives, specifically two uncles, to talk with them about the one thing I thought I never would: Trump. 

Both uncles said they didn’t originally intend on voting for Trump in the 2016 election, but he stuck out because he was an outsider with a different perspective. 

“I probably wouldn’t have thought he would be a good president,” said my younger uncle. “But through the campaign, I learned more about him and thought… what a great change that would be… because at that point, I was tired of politicians. You know, a lot of promises. Not a lot kept.”

My uncles liked Trump because he wasn’t a politician. They saw that he had America’s best interests in mind. Sure, Trump made mistakes and his personality wasn’t great, but he was the best option the country had, they believed. 

Both of my uncles also voted for Trump in 2020, looking forward to what he could do in his second term, but he lost the election. As for the election being stolen, both weren’t sure as there wasn’t enough evidence to push them either way.

 “I don’t know that it was stolen or rigged, but I think there’s a lot of irregularities that are not being answered. And the fact that the press… [is] unwilling to do an investigation adequate enough… is disturbing,” said my older uncle.  

On the Capitol riot topic, they thought it was awful, but not caused by Trump.

“I think that was terrible,” said my younger uncle. “I saw this video where they were saying that [Trump] was inciting violence. I didn’t see it. [What] I saw was him saying [it was a peaceful] walk to the Capitol.” 

My older uncle brought up the property damage, caused during the George Floyd protests. “It was horrible and the riots in Seattle [and] Portland… were horrible… So I think that the people who perpetrate that mischief should be prosecuted [to] the fullest extent of the law. I don’t think that Trump had anything to do with it,” said my older uncle. 

Both were unsure if the election was stolen, so when asked if Biden was, at the time of the interview, a legitimate president elect, they seemingly didn’t know how to respond.

“I think he’s capable of doing the job. He’s got a checkered past, just like every other politician does and that’s the problem… [but] I’m still hoping for the best for our country. Whoever the leader is,” said my younger uncle. 

For the most part, I think my uncles’ perspectives are flawed, but they’re still family, and I still have good memories with them, so I’m going to try to stay connected.