Meet the Rutgers students voting for Trump

For those who are curious and those who want to get into the minds and inner workings of the students supporting the most controversial person of 2016, we talked to the students in the “Rutgers for Trump” organization on campus.

How long have you supported Donald Trump?

Dylan Marek: I’m a long time supporter. Ever since he called out the flaws in our immigration policy. That’s when I knew he had my vote.

Pavel: I’ve been on the Trump train for about a year. I was pretty apathetic towards politics prior to college, but being exposed to liberal hypocrisy and the average whiny and entitled college student demeanor definitely kickstarted my support for Donald.

Alexis: I have supported Donald Trump since Marco Rubio dropped out of the Republican Primary.

Brandon Chesner: June 18, 2015, when I first saw his announcement on Youtube. After seeing his speech, which most people should do, I realized he isn’t a joke, and he has valid points that he needs to bring to the election.

Glenn Bouthillette: Ever since he announced he was running.

What makes you want to vote for him?

Dylan Marek: His stance on national defense and immigration. Those were the things that got my attention. The wall was a huge thing; I love the wall. He’s going to defend American workers from illegal immigration, limit it, and he’s going to ban immigration from regions that are really hostile to the United States.

Pavel: Electing Trump is a giant ‘fuck you’ to the left, and that’s part of his allure. His policies are obviously more important than that, but most of my peers are too distraught by him calling Rosie O’Donnell a fat pig and are generally so ignorant and oblivious that they’ll swallow any article that badmouths Trump. It’s a shame; Trump’s policies are strong, but people are more concerned about sexually suggestive comments, claiming that he’s a rapist and a predator when there’s no weight to any of those allegations. People love to get torn up about wedge issues and complain about businesses that don’t bake cakes for gays, then wonder where things went wrong when a truck runs over 86 people. With that said, Trump has nothing against Muslims, Blacks, Mexicans, etc., and people need to realize this and look into what’s probably the biggest slander campaign against any individual, ever. Trump has solid plans against unemployment, wants to leave power to the states, is aware of the dangers of open borders, and is generally anti-globalist, and I agree with most of his stances.

Alexis : When I think about what my values are and what I want to see happen with this country, it becomes clear why Trump is the answer and why I will be voting for him.

Brandon Chesner: Initially, his blunt persona, immigration policies regarding the wall, deportation of illegal immigrants – which I feel will stimulate the economy and lower crime rates. He wants to put America first, which is refreshing. He’s a businessman, which is weird, so I feel like he has the ability to negotiate with congressmen. He’s trying to lower tax rates for all. He’s trying to lower the corporate tax rate from 35 to 15 %. Which would be on par with other first world countries. With foreign policy, he doesn’t want to get involved with anything  that doesn’t involve us. With Russia, every other candidate wants to use aggressive tactics – Trump wants to get along, have a peaceful country, one where we can thrive in.

Glenn Bouthillette: He’s standing up for what’s right. He knows how to handle the border, terrorism, and he wants to put the American economy first.

Donald Trump has an uphill battle with the media, would you say that political correctness has something to do with it? Why/Why not?

Dylan Marek: Absolutely, the media is funded by the sponsors. The press is all controlled by those who fund the media. The same people who give money to establishment politicians like Hillary Clinton give money to the media, so they have to say what the sponsors want them to say. So this and the liberal postmodern philosophy is very dominant in the media.

Pavel : I hate to complain about ‘PC culture’ because that term has attained a boogieman reputation among clueless right wingers that parrot bullshit articles and propaganda just as much as the left does, but it’s definitely real. I did some research recently about whether there’s any truth to liberal bias in media recently, and a fact that stuck out to me was that half of US millennials only get their news from good ‘ole unbiased Facebook. If this alone isn’t indicative that we have a PC pandering problem, then just look at what two RA’s from UMass-Amherst had to say about some shenanigans at the campus. For goodness sake, they thought that the Harambe meme was a negative remark and a ‘direct attack to the campus’s African American community.’

Alexis: I would say his political INcorrectness is part of the reason why he has an uphill battle with the media. Had he been ‘Mr. Politically Correct’ like most other presidential candidates are, the media would have much less to scrutinize him for. The media just can’t believe that someone is coming out and saying things on the minds of many silent Americans and tries to play that off as a bad thing. Sometimes, it’s not even what he’s saying but rather how he says it that causes the media to react the way they do.

Brandon Chesner: The media has a fun way of twisting words of republicans. They ignore any controversial issue democrats do. With Trump, they twist all the words he says. His first controversy – he said they’re not sending their best. They attacked him for singling Mexicans, but 6 million illegal immigrants come from Mexico, so singling them out is good. The illegal immigrants are criminals at higher rates. Media tries to censor people of different views; CNN and Buzzfeed will block comments sections of online articles, and the truth is they can’t disprove anyone who disagrees with them. A girl from Yale wrote a thesis on wanting to censor “problematic” papers. Illegal immigrants aren’t a race; it’s a crime to commit. Syrian refugees give a significant risk to safety. They allowed over a million Syrian refugees in Germany already. The crime statistics between 2014-2015 say it all: German citizens’ crime rates were consistently falling, but the foreign born citizens’ crime rates rose 150,000 to 450,000. Safe spaces block out opposing views so only their view get in the room. Under the first amendment, America is safe enough. Blocking opinion is morally wrong, and a step towards authoritarian government.

Glenn Bouthillette: Absolutely. The media is supportive of Clinton. The media is willing to support her calling us “deplorables.” Political correctness has gone to the point where it completely disregards human life and truth, like radical Islam.

A lot of people say that this election is not about who is the best, but who is less damaging. Would you say that Donald Trump is less damaging, or legitimately fit to be our president?

Dylan Marek: More than legitimately fit. He’s the only person who leveled with the American public and told it like it is, and is capable of leading us back to being a great country.

Pavel: I mostly hear green partiers refer to the election as a battle of two evils, but Trump is very qualified to be a leader. In fact, infinitely more so than Hillary. I laugh at people who think Trump’s a damaging candidate, seeing as Hillary is gung-ho about bullying Russia.

Alexis: On the note of basically “picking your poison” from a general standpoint, I did hear a rather accurate, yet slightly humorous comparison: Let’s say you’re getting a surgery that your life depends on and you’re given two options of surgeons. One surgeon has done many surgeries before, however none of them have been successful and most of their patients have died; this is Hillary Clinton. On the other hand, the other surgeon has never performed surgery before, so you don’t know whether they’re a good surgeon or a bad one; this is Donald Trump. So who do you choose? The experienced one who you know won’t be good or the inexperienced one who you have no idea what to expect? The choice is yours, pick your poison.

Brandon Chesner: Media screws up the election process. They focus on Trump saying means things rather than his policies. Media follows her policies and ignores her wrong doings. If the media can focus on what he’s going to do for global security and the middle class, we can see he surpasses Hillary and the other candidates from the primaries. For example, media coverage over Trump saying mean things gets a lot more coverage than the Wikileaks scandals. I’d rather have someone who says mean things about people, than someone who is riddled with corruptions: who gave Uranium to Russia, lost 6 billion dollars from the state department, and rigged the election against Sanders.

Glenn Bouthillette: He’s definitely fit to be a good leader. You see all the corruption that Hillary has gotten away with, and actions speak louder than words. Donald’s actions proved him capable of running business; Hillary doesn’t seem capable of running anything.

Are you afraid to show your support of Trump at a liberal college, like Rutgers?

Dylan Marek: Not at all – I’m wearing the hat.

Pavel : I’m not afraid, but I won’t jump at the opportunity to declare my support. If asked, I usually say that I’m a Trump fan.

Alexis: To be perfectly honest, kind of. I was fortunate enough to make a lot of friends whom I share similar political views with but that does not make going out and openly stating it much easier. Joining the College Republicans and the Students for Trump most definitely made me a little more confident in sharing my views, however I still fear backlash if I were to state them on my own. Sad and nothing short of hypocritical that in such a liberal college that claims to be open and accepting, that I have to fear being myself and expressing my beliefs freely.

Brandon Chesner: I Enjoy it. It’s thrilling in a way. It’s a rush to see how people react, how they get offended by something they have no knowledge over. When you believe in something, you shouldn’t be afraid to show it.

Glenn Bouthillette: A little bit.

This presidential election has become a battleground for freedom of speech. Would you be willing to wear a Trump hat in public?

Dylan Marek: I wore a shirt too, if that counts.

Pavel: I would totally wear a Trump hat in public. Anyone who would become confrontational and try to knock it off is usually short and weak, so good luck to anyone who thinks the right thing to do is assault people wearing Trump merch.

Alexis: If I was with other fellow Trump supporters showing their support, I would wear a Trump hat in public. The only way I’ll wear one in public alone is after the election is over and if Trump wins.

Brandon Chesner: I do already. Hat, shirt, publicly defend him. I table for him, one time I tabled for him alone for an hour.

Glenn Bouthillette: Yeah I will. I don’t want to be afraid to express myself anymore.

It’s mostly liberals who openly despise Trump. What is your message to liberals who dislike Trump?

Dylan Marek: Realistically, stop listening to what the media tells you and just look into what he’s talking about. Stop thinking that – just because you want to call him all these “ists”… racist, fascist, misogynist – you have a morally superior ground, because you don’t.

Pavel : My message to liberals is that you should realize you’re weak, your bloodline is weak and you will not survive the winter. On a more serious note, if liberals realized that instead of victimizing themselves, whining about ideological purity and ignoring context, reality and facts, they could do something productive with their time like learn a new hobby, exercise a bit or a lot, or watch a documentary. On another note, we need more liberals that are capable of holding a conversation or argument without playing the bigot card, and I respect anybody who can set their differences aside and be amiable with someone with opposing political beliefs.

Alexis: It’s unfortunate that we don’t agree on what some of the problems are and especially how to go about solving them. However, I nevertheless respect your opinion to the degree I will never engage in inappropriate behavior or actions against you and hope you can respect mine. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and if you have valid points behind your opinion, that makes me respect it even more. I know there will likely be no changing your mind in terms of your opinion on Trump, however should Trump win, I hope you will respect him as a president, like I would respect Hillary Clinton.

Brandon Chesner: If you ignore facts I’m going to ignore you. Pay attention to economics, truth, history. You’ll realize Trump is a blessing in disguise. Everything Hillary has done in her political career resulted in corruption and death: Benghazi; she ignored dozens of calls from the ambassador; giving Uranium to Russia using money from the Clinton foundation; voting for the war in Iraq, costing trillions of dollars, lives lost, and more instability in the Middle East; attacking Bill’s rape victims etc. Democrats loved Wikileaks when they attacked Bush, but when they go against the Democrats, they’re immediately shut down. Hillary was caught saying she wanted to drone Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks. She praises Obamacare, which cost 2 million full time jobs worth of hours, as well as skyrocketing rates. Also, she’s supporting a no fly zone in Syria, which will put the USA into war with Russia.

Glenn Bouthillette: We’re not afraid of anyone with opposing views or [anyone] using intimidation tactics to get your point across, because the only thing you’re proving is that we’re stronger than you.

What’s the most disheartening experience you’ve received from supporting Trump?

Dylan Marek: The most disheartening would be…I’ve been told to go fuck myself on the street for wearing the shirt.

Pavel: I’ve had the same experience, nothing heinous, but I’d say I’m better off having shown my support. These people who you consider friends could find out you’re a Trump supporter and cease contact overnight and block you from social media. The funny thing is that these same people are the ones screaming that bigotry is intolerable and anything that doesn’t go along with their narrative is fascist.

Alexis: I made the “Students for Trump” Instagram page and received a comment calling me vulgar things -“Skanky uneducated trailer park trash.” I know this wasn’t anything personal, but it really started to get to me. I thought about it, and realized that not only is any of what he said untrue, but if anything I am the complete opposite of what he said. I replied to him in an appropriate manner correcting his comments: “Hey! So I’m a skanky uneducated trailer park trash? Well this piece of trash attends the 25th best public university in the nation pursuing a double major and minor, and made the Dean’s List last semester. This piece of trash also lives in the 40th most affluent town in the State of NJ (out of 702 total). I could go on and on, but someone who is as uneducated as to not know that “skanky” isn’t a real word, isn’t worth any more of my time. Have some respect for other people’s beliefs.” I did not receive a response and I was blocked by him. I couldn’t care less though, he must’ve felt dumb when he picked the wrong woman to mess with.

Brandon Chesner: I made an entire lecture hall hate me, during a history class. I brought up how Trump is going to win in November, how he’s the best candidate. I diverged into feminism, and the whole class hated me, including the TA.

Glenn Bouthillette: It’s only disheartening when people vote for Hillar just because she’s a woman.

Trump’s slogan is “Make America Great Again.” When do you think America was truly great?

Dylan Marek: I would say, from the inception in the republic, and the ideals that it was founded upon, all the way up until we started feeding ourselves with this welfare type state system. This politically correct system that’s dominated really only the past 20 years. We led the world in inventiveness, ingenuity – we were the ones to go to space. I would say for most of our history until the past few decades, we’ve been the greatest country on earth.

Brandon Chesner: From Reagan to second Bush. We started from a dark place after Carter left – massive unemployment problems. Reagan came in and solved our economic problems, maintained a strong position of workforce participation policy, which carried on. H.W Bush was talented in getting us on track globally, he was great at foreign affairs, specifically the war in Iraq. The recession is just a regular thing that occurs, you can’t blame him for the recession happening, but you can judge how he gets us out. He’s proof how America can use conservative values to get our economy into a place we need it to be. Bush kept us with 5 years of economic growth, high workforce participation, which has gone down since Obama took office.

Glenn Bouthillette: After we beat the British to secure our independence, rising up from The Depression, winning World War Two, reaching the moon, the Reagan era.

Pavel: The 1950’s, economically that is, post-ww2 boom; left the war with a bigger manufacturing industry and the rest of the world relied on us to recover.

What message do you have for people who are afraid to vocalize their support for Trump?

Dylan Marek: Whatever your reason is for being afraid to be vocal, I just want to tell you that you’re not alone, and we’re going to make America great again together.

Pavel: Regardless of the election results, any Trump supporters on campus should feel free to express their support, as they have a right to do so. You might ostracize some people, but you’re not going to get stabbed. MAGA!

Alexis: Don’t be afraid, you’re not alone. If you’re a student, there are groups – such as Students for Trump and/or College Republicans – where you can happily and safely express your opinion without fear of potentially violent backlash. Even if you’re not a student, there are many online groups (i.e. on Facebook) that you can connect and discuss with many Trump supporters. I also think that expressing your opinion online on social media is a great way to get started; this could be a post of an analysis of a current event or even sharing an article with a comment or two stating your opinion. You may receive backlash from your liberal friends and followers, and you may even get unfriended and unfollowed too, but it gives you an opportunity to express yourself without fearing physically violent backlash, and you never know – you may have some friends and followers back you up whom you never knew were Trump supporters! Even if you chose not to express your opinion publically, I can only ask at the very least that you get out and vote for Trump on election day.

Brandon Chesner: We’re stronger in numbers. You’re not the only one out there; we can not be the silent minority, we need to stand up and be the loud majority. All that stands between us and tyranny, is your voice and your vote. Don’t be afraid to stand up for what was written in The Constitution.

Glenn Bouthillette: You should never be afraid to express yourself. There may be people who disagree with you, but if you have the courage to stand up for what you believe in, that’s an achievement in and of itself.