A group of Democratic voters who previously cast their ballot for President Obama, explained to CNN’s Alisyn Camerota why they crossed party lines and voted for President Donald Trump in 2016.
Although some of the panelists did support Trump, a number of them said they don’t plan to do the same thing in 2020, CNN reports. Darryl Wimbley, a Black man, explained that his vote for Obama was solely based on color
“The first one was dynamic, me being an African American. Just because I’m born Black, I’m supposed to have this allegiance to the Democratic Party to me is the most racist thing I ever did because I didn’t care what his policy was, it was just the fact that he was Black.” Wimbley is now a staunch Trump supporter.
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So is Jason Dixon who said he was sold on Trump from day one.“For Trump I was really sold as soon as he came down that escalator and announced that he was going to run,” Dixon, a Black Trump supporter, said. “It was almost like a big middle finger to the establishment, to all of politics and I just felt that we really needed that.”
David Soborowitz however, now regrets his vote for Trump. “I just feel he has not acted properly as a President. He may gets things done but I see him as an embarrassment,” he said.
Chuck Howenstein chimed in and called out the President’s divisive ways. “I think he fans the flames of hatred. I think he’s a bully. I think he belittles people, call people names. I think we’re better than that.”
Ciarra Walker, however, wasn’t a turncoat and didn’t vote for Trump and says she’s not surprised at all by how he seemed lure people with his divisive rhetoric. “I’m not surprised by the way he kinda pulled people in. I have a child, he’s 14. He’s a young African American male and just the injustices that have been happening around the country, we’re extremely fearful in the African American community, Walker said. “And since he’s become President it has become more fearful for us as a people.”
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Wimbley shook his head in disagreement with Walker, a Black woman. “It just amazes me. This is 2019, the race relations and the way we perceive or the way we say things are happening in this country, I don’t see it happening.”
CNN’s Alisyn Camerota, a white woman had to fact-check Wimbley and told him since President Trump took office there has been an uptick in hate crimes. “You can say that. I truly don’t believe it because I don’t see it,” Wimbley said in response.
Wimbley also went on to defend the Charlottesville riot and repeated much of what the President has said previously, “There were two groups that came together and fought and both of them were equally wrong.” Howenstein, a white man also had to serve Wimbley with a fact check too. “There wasn’t good people on both sides. There was the KKK on one side and then there was the other side.”
“For him to say there were good people on both sides, to me that turned me off of him,” Howenstein said as reason why he no longer supports Trump. “I don’t think he sets a good example,” he admits.