SCRATON / WASHINGTON DC He was still the overwhelming favorite of American youth in the last election Joe Biden.
Now, the support of young voters has been melting to a record low for some time.
In this story, young people tell why the sitting president does not get at least their vote.
Robert Foley, 26, thinks the way the presidential race is going is so bad that the late presidents of the United States must be turning in their graves.
The world used to respect the United States, but now laughs at it.
Thus Robert Foley doubts.
That’s how bad things are going in the US presidential race. Even the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s The attempted murder on Saturday in Pennsylvania hasn’t changed Foley’s views.
– Emotions should not be the factor that decides who is the president of this country, he says.
Foley is generally disillusioned with the way the political debate has turned. The bottom line was the election debate held a couple of weeks ago, where Joe Biden messed up his answers and the candidates argued.
– Biden and Trump argued forever about who has a better golf swing. I’m sure all our late presidents were turning in their graves.
In his opinion, dragging President Biden onto the stage is already bullying an old man. Foley compares Biden to his grandfather, who also forgets words.
– I am ashamed. This country is full of great people and these two are our best options?
In the video below, Foley says he’s afraid in a country plagued by political violence if Biden wins re-election. He himself says that he gets strength from the Bible.
Still, the president’s state of mind has nothing to do with Foley not voting for Biden.
He made the decision a long time ago.
First, the immigration policy of the Biden administration is too lax. The US withdrawal from Afghanistan, on the other hand, was a fiasco, Foley enumerates.
Biden’s biggest failure is the economy. Average Americans live hand to mouth.
– Bread costs five dollars in the store. They say that food has become more expensive by 20 percent, but I believe that 50 percent is a more correct figure.
However, Foley blames both Trump and Biden for the rise in prices. You can also feel them in your own life.
Foley lives in the small town of Scraton, Pennsylvania in a rented apartment. Although he works as a tax officer, he cannot afford an owner-occupied apartment.
– I myself feel that I live under heavy financial pressure, and I can’t get ahead in life.
In the last election, more than 60 percent of young voters voted for Biden. Now the candidates are almost level.
Foley would like to vote non-aligned Robert F. Kennedy. If the election ends up being Trump and Biden, Foley’s choice is Trump.
Although the situation in the US is what it is, there is another thing that makes everyday life easier. Foley says he gets strength from faith.
– When I start the day by reading the Bible, I feel like I’m standing on solid ground and I can solve the challenges of the day.
Joe Kesterson, 26, accuses Biden’s Israel policy of being bloodthirsty. He is not going to vote for anyone.
There are well-known faces on the wall.
South African freedom fighter Nelson MandelaChinese Communist leader Mao Zedong and other big names.
In the last presidential election Joel Kesterson, 26, voted for Biden. Now it’s impossible, because Kesterson is a different person than before.
He has become a socialist.
The whole US is screwed and he’s not going to vote at all.
– We are told from a young age that this is the most beautiful country in the world. And that all the wars we fight protect democracy and freedom. It’s all a lie, Kesterson claims.
The single most important factor in the disappointment is the war in Gaza. In the spring, Kesterson participated in the campus protests that shook the entire country.
– Biden’s policy in Gaza has been absolutely bloodthirsty, he says.
The demonstrators demanded, among other things, a cease-fire in Gaza and universities to stop their investments in Israel and companies operating in the country.
Kesterson lives in the capital, Washington. In the video, he says that the money the US gives to Israel should be used for the citizens of their own country.
There are many young people in the United States who think like Kesterson.
According to surveys, almost half of the youth of voters do not want the US to give Israel arms aid.
Kesterson’s decision not to vote is not laziness or apathy. The whole system should be changed, he emphasizes.
For example, a larger spectrum of parties could be better than a two-party system, Kesterson thinks. But he doesn’t really believe in that either. Change must happen in people’s thinking.
Kesterson is currently working as a history teacher, but would like to work in a trade union. He sees the ay movement as an example of how people can improve their own lives locally.
– We have more in common with each other than those who claim to know how we live.
“Not all Republicans are racists and homophobes”
Ja´Quon Stembridge, 18, experienced a political awakening and supports Trump. He also got his mother to become a Republican.
At least Ja’Quon from Stembridge there should be a vote for Joe Biden.
At least this is the case according to the statistics. Last time, Biden won more than 90 percent of the black vote.
Now polls predict a smaller share for Biden. And there was absolutely no sound from Stembridge.
– I seriously think that Joe Biden is the worst president in the history of the United States, he says.
Stembridge is the only child of a single mother. The whole family has voted for Democrats for generations.
– Everyone thinks Republicans are bad because grandma always said so. And after that, mom continued in the same vein.
Stembridge found himself thinking differently when, during the corona pandemic, he was killing time at home and listening to political podcasts.
– I realized that conservatism is not so bad after all. I think it’s quite smart that you don’t want the government to interfere too much in your life. I don’t want it telling me what I can and can’t do.
According to Stembridge, his classmates bullied him when he said he was voting for Trump.
The mother, on the other hand, gave her son her full support.
– I told him that everything that is said in the media about Republicans is not true. They are not all racist homophobes.
Now the mother has also changed the party.
In Stembridge’s opinion, the country was in a better mess during the Trump era. His style also appeals to young people, says Stembridge.
– Trump is not a typical politician. He’s a billionaire but he eats McDonald’s hamburgers. People love it.
What if Biden happens to win the election?
– I will accept it. I believe that our elections are free and legal.
The interviews for this story were conducted before Trump’s assassination attempt. Among the interviewees, Foley has commented on the event.