Tommye and Rody Johnson have been registered Republicans for almost seven decades. So while the couple from Vero Beach, Florida, had some reservations about then-candidate Donald Trump in 2016, they just couldn’t imagine voting for Hillary Clinton.
Now, after nearly four years of President Trump’s tweets, the impeachment scandal, and especially, what they see as his disastrous handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, they can’t imagine voting for him again.
They’re not the only ones. According to a recent
Morning Consult poll, Mr. Trump’s approval rating among voters over the age of 65 dropped 20 points between March and the end of April, making seniors more critical of the president’s performance than any other age group aside from 18- to 29-year-olds. Much of that decline seems directly related to the virus, which so far has posed a far more serious health threat to older people.
“The people my age, we have become dispensable,” says Wendy Penk, a lifelong Republican in her 60s from Charlotte, North Carolina.
Ms. Penk, like the Johnsons, voted for Mr. Trump last time around, but is now part of a “Republicans for Biden” Facebook group. She worries about her husband’s health, and says Mr. Trump’s handling of the pandemic cemented her decision to vote a “straight blue” ticket in November.
“I’ve never seen this level of mishandling my entire life, and I was around during Richard Nixon and Watergate,” says Ms. Penk. “This coronavirus situation has just highlighted how inept [President Trump] is.”
Mr. Holmes, who works as a receptionist at a local hospital outside Jackson, recently had a friend die from the virus. He says he knows he’s not the only 2016 Trump voter souring on the president. For him, the final straw was when Mr. Trump called the coronavirus a hoax.
The crisis “has just confirmed how incompetent [President Trump] is – and how uncaring he is for others,” says Mr. Holmes. He’s planning to vote for Mr. Biden in November, the first time he’s ever voted for a Democrat, he says.
Ms. Stanley does say she sees fewer “Trump 2020” flags flying lately – the only visible form of political support permitted in the community. Similarly, Cathy Hardy, chair of the Sumter County Democratic Party, says that anecdotally, she’s heard a handful of locals say Mr. Trump’s handling of COVID-19 was “the nail in the coffin.”
“The health concerns people have nationwide are intensified here,” she says.
Ms. Stanley does say she sees fewer “Trump 2020” flags flying lately – the only visible form of political support permitted in the community. Similarly, Cathy Hardy, chair of the Sumter County Democratic Party, says that anecdotally, she’s heard a handful of locals say Mr. Trump’s handling of COVID-19 was “the nail in the coffin.”
“The health concerns people have nationwide are intensified here,” she says.
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if he's LUCKY he'll have 10 percent unemployment by the election. and in the meantime he's just gonna get worse and worse and more unhinged every day
