If any supporters of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in the United States live in the Powell River area, according to some American expatriates, they are in the closet.
“I don’t think there are any Trump supporters up here,” said Jacqueline Huddleston, who moved from Washington State to Powell River with her husband Mark in 2009.
Jacqueline said they still, “feel the Bern,” as supporters of senator Bernie Sanders, who lost to Hillary Clinton in Democratic Party presidential primaries.
“I have a friend in Florida who is a Trump supporter and he has been deathly quiet for some time,” said Jacqueline. “There’s such a thing as closet Trump supporters. They secretly support him, but are not vocal about it and are a bit ashamed, or a lot ashamed.”
According to Mark, both he and Jacqueline are alarmed by Trump. He said he will likely support Clinton because “Trump is a disaster.”
Mark is glad to see the latest polls show Clinton in front but that can change very quickly, he said.
Jacqueline, who said she is more left wing than her husband, will not vote for the democrat. According to her, there is no difference between the two candidates running for president.
“I can’t vote for Clinton, I just can’t do it; it goes against everything I believe in,” she said. “I don’t think she’s the right woman. Yes, it would be great to have a woman president, but not her.”
According to Jacqueline, who does not watch television and allow herself to be drawn into the media frenzy, she does not know much about Trump other than to say, “He’s a buffoon; that’s what he is. Is he more dangerous than Clinton? I don’t know.”
Since Trump started winning primaries, after being written off by political commentators when his candidacy was announced, some attention has been paid to the number of Americans searching “moving to Canada” on search engines and social media.
Singer and actress Barbra Streisand, a staunch Clinton supporter, is one of the high-profile celebrities who have vowed to move if Trump becomes president.
Jacqueline and Mark said they are confident Trump will not win on Tuesday, November 8, but if he does, Jacqueline said they have a friend who holds dual citizenship coming to Powell River for what might be more than just a visit.
“He is actually coming here just in case Trump gets elected,” said Jacqueline.
Absentee ballots from expatriates and dual citizens are sent to the county, borough or parish election office of their last place of residence in the US.
Jen Zacher is an ex-pat from Missouri who will be voting for Clinton, but can understand the perspective of why some people are drawn to Trump.
“I am related to people who I’ve known all of my life who are going to vote for Trump,” said Zacher. “Missouri is quite conservative.”
According to Zacher, she is not completely confident of Clinton winning and draws parallels to president Obama’s campaign of eight years ago when he was able to get people out who had not voted before. She said she sees similarities in the Trump campaign.
“What’s happened is these people are mobilizing; people who were so turned off by government, they’re coming out of the woodwork, they’re going to register, they’re going to vote for the first time ever because he’s created the political environment for off the spectrum right wing,” said Zacher. “Those folks are becoming political.”
Meanwhile, Mark said a lot of work is required to undo the damage Trump has done, but he is hopeful his country will overcome it.
“There are a lot of good people doing a lot of good things to counteract the kind of vitriol, hatred and prejudice he’s engendering,” he said. “He is bringing out the worst in people in a lot of ways and appealing to the lowest common denominator.”
