Vivian Ho reports from Chandler, Arizona:
At a Republican watch party in Chandler, Arizona, where dozens gathered in seats under stringed lights, the group cheered as Fox News read off the early numbers in Georgia and North Carolina in favor of
Donald Trump. “It’s 2016 all over again,” whooped Kenneth, a Chandler resident who declined to give his last name.
Kenneth, 43, said he voted for Trump again not just because his tax plan helped him as a laborer, but because “it seems like the Democratic party is the party of anger”. “They’re burning stuff down, they’re starting fights, riots, looting, shooting,” he said, a Keep America Great sign in his hands.
The switch to the Republican party was a recent change for him. “I’ve been a Democrat my entire life up until 2016,” said Kenneth, a Black man. “I’ve always thought
Republicans were racist but in 2016, I was done.”
“You don’t think Trump is racist?” I asked.
“OK, if he is, would he be the first president? No,” Kenneth said. “But look, this is the thing: The only reason why everybody is saying Trump is racist is because you have the news media, Facebook, Twitter, favorite rappers and celebrities and singers saying it.
“Nobody would believe that if they didn’t have all this outside influence. It’s like the news media and social media has people believing all sorts of stuff. They thought tonight was going to be a blowout. Biden was supposed to blow Trump out in
Florida. The media has been lying to everybody the whole time!”