Opinion | Harris, Trump and the 2024 Election: 9 Trump Voters Talk about

In Might, when President Biden was operating for re-election, we performed a spotlight group with 12 ladies from swing states who voted for Donald Trump in 2020 to evaluate how they have been feeling in regards to the rematch. They have been enthusiastically pro-Trump and assured: Eleven of the 12 stated they thought he would win. On the identical time, half of them stated it was vital that America have a feminine president within the subsequent decade, and some praised Kamala Harris.

This month, with Ms. Harris now the Democratic nominee, we determined to ask our group from Might to reconvene and discuss what distinction, if any, having a girl on the prime of the ticket made for them. 9 of our members have been recreation, and the dialog had some surprises: For instance, whereas the group was nonetheless largely pro-Trump, they have been now roughly cut up on whether or not he would win.

The ladies who preferred Mr. Trump stated they trusted him extra on the financial system and inflation and have been skeptical that prices would go down below Ms. Harris as a result of they blamed the Biden-Harris administration for the state of the financial system now. Curiously, 4 of the ladies trusted Ms. Harris extra on the difficulty of abortion, however a few them made clear they noticed abortion not as “a political difficulty or a voting difficulty,” as certainly one of them stated, however as a “social difficulty.”

Among the ladies had misgivings about Mr. Trump that have been extra acute than after we spoke in Might, noting his help for tax cuts for rich Individuals, his “horrible bedside method” and his tendency to say “dumb” issues. A number of of the ladies stated they have been additionally involved about political violence from his supporters.

In such a polarized election, we have been struck that one girl had switched from Mr. Trump to Ms. Harris and one other gave the impression to be leaning that manner. They preferred Ms. Harris’s confidence and enthusiasm, they usually needed to see the attitude and management {that a} girl would carry to the presidency. Among the pro-Trump ladies additionally credited Ms. Harris with being vocal, empathetic and brave, although a number of have been fairly essential of her as properly, calling her “robotic,” “faux” and “unqualified.” What was unequivocally clear, although, is that for these 9 ladies, Ms. Harris had a preventing likelihood towards Mr. Trump and had earned a measure of grudging respect — one thing they didn’t really feel in regards to the Democrats in Might.