Many Pennsylvania women who voted for President Trump in the 2016 election say they still support him one year later.
Reuters interviewed more than half a dozen women in the state who supported Trump in 2016 to see if they still feel the same way they did before his presidency, and his backers remain committed to him, citing his policies on immigration and his tax reform plan as their reasons for supporting him.
Carol Markowicz, 52, of Philadelphia, was not your typical Republican voter. Markowicz told Reuters that she voted for former President Barack Obama, a Democrat, in 2012, but voted for Trump in 2016 because she thought his business background and tough stance on illegal immigration would help job growth in Pennsylvania.
“I really think they need to build a wall,” she said of Trump’s proposal to install a barrier along the Mexican border. “I think they need to send back all these people that aren’t supposed to be here, because they’re taking jobs from Americans.”
While some Trump voters find it hard to support the president’s policies because of his controversial tweets, others say that it is his actions that matter more than his words.
“Let’s set aside his personality. What about what he’s actually doing that is benefiting us?” said Loida Hopkins, a stay-at-home mother from Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania, who also voted for Obama in 2012.
Hopkins, a food stamp recipient and daughter of two illegal aliens, said she supported Trump in 2016 because of his stance against abortion. She said that unlike other welfare recipients, she is trying to better herself, and noted that her husband received a tax reform bonus from his company as a result of Trump’s policies.
Belinda Miller, 50, of Audubon, Pennsylvania, also said she separates Trump’s policies from his rhetoric.
“I look overall not at what he says but what he does. All that other stuff is just rhetoric, smoke, and mirrors,” said Miller, who works as an emergency room nurse.
Miller said she benefited financially from Trump’s business-friendly policies, saying her retirement accounts grew as the stock market boomed.
“My 401(k) and my 403 have soared and, if anybody doesn’t realize that, they’ve been asleep for a year,” she said.
While many personalities in the media and Democratic lawmakers criticize Trump for his behavior, these Pennsylvania voters say their reasons for supporting Trump are based on his accomplishments while in office.
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