An Open Letter to Joe Biden from a Former Trump Supporter
By: Nina D'Strella
Tags: Biden, Politics, Trump, Men, Economic Development

Photo by Josh Willink from Pexels

Dear President-Elect Biden,

May I call you Joe? I’m gonna call you Joe.

It pains me to say this Joe, but congratulations. You were not my first choice of people to lead my country, but I’ve decided to put on my big-girl pants, accept reality, and get on board. I’ve always considered myself a patriot, and in my book, that includes respecting the constitutional institutions in place that elevated you to this position. The American people have spoken, and I sincerely hope you will listen.

Despite not being a fan of yours, I was moved by your acceptance speech in November when you promised to represent all of us, not just your loyal supporters. But accepting you as my president doesn’t mean that we’re all clear. I, like other responsible citizens, will have sharp eyes on you to make sure you honor your promises and commit yourself to operating this office with integrity. Which brings me to a painful concession speech of my own.

I’m quiet about it now, but I was on the Trump train when it left the station in 2015. I always considered myself a practical conservative, concerned about protecting civil liberties, and where the nation is heading both morally and financially. Looking back, my interest in Trump was emotion…trumping reason. There were plenty of red flags signifying the type of person he is. But I saw what I wanted to see in Trump: a winner, obsessed with winning, telling Americans that he wanted to see us all win. I became wrapped up in the feeling Trump created, most importantly, the way he made the men in my life feel. They are the reason I am reaching out to you today.

I’m a single woman in my 20s, and I’ve been scraping by financially for my entire adult life. The ball-and-chain of college debt is heavy around my ankle, but at least I got the privilege of attending college, which has made my struggle feel like it will have an endpoint. I’m computer-literate and I have “BSc.” on my resume. If I work hard, my future has potential for stability and perhaps even success. My sisters and I were the first in our family to attend college, but our brothers stayed behind to pursue quicker money in the trades: the construction site, the garage, the farm. My father, brothers, and many uncles and male cousins see nothing but struggle both ahead and behind them, and not just because they are rapidly being replaced by robots. They are members of the working class, laborers and blue-collar small business owners. Politicians both red and blue call them the “backbone of our country,” and yet they continue to turn a blind eye while they are pushed to the economic edge.

I’m writing to you Joe, because I am worried about my men. I need you to see them, hear them. After decades of being sold out, mocked, and vilified by the political and economic establishment, they now have to endure the humiliation of betting on a winner and losing. And as Trump viciously grapples with his loss, it’s only getting more embarrassing for everyone involved. Needless to say, they are not coping well.

I became wrapped up in the feeling Trump created, most importantly, the way he made the men in my life feel. They are the reason I am reaching out to you today.

The “Feeling”

Back in summer 2015, the men in my family seemed to come to life in a way I had never seen before. The bitter and unsettled chatter at the Sunday dinner table suddenly changed from grievanced to hopeful. Banners and flags with Trump’s name in bold white and red letters rose from our lawns and pickup trucks. “Trump is going to bring this country back,” they thundered. “Bring us back.” I only know this twinkle in their eyes was reminiscent of some phantom glory, long before I was born, by the way they spoke of it. The younger ones who never experienced this bygone “golden age” seemed to be the most fervent about getting back to it.

Back from what? Where had they been, and where were they now? What do they believe has been taken from them? As I listened to their words and sifted through their fearful outrage, I could decipher the source of their bitterness. They have been stripped of something, something simple yet sacred to them. It has been chipped away over a generation, maybe more. It is the bar to which they hold themselves as men: their ability to provide for their families.

The passing comment I made about replacement robots is very real. This tech-driven, globalized world has left the American blue-collar worker grasping for a sense of purpose and stability. Trump made hefty promises to this group, and was met with sincere excitement and relief. “Finally, someone who sees me.”

And I know how the average liberal American views the Trump voter: morally reprehensible, often unforgivable. I get it. But from my own experience, I’ve seen that scarcity can make a person selfishly nearsighted. “Climate change? Refugees? Sorry, don’t care. Just want to keep the last forty dollars in my bank account and a roof over my baby’s head, thank you.”

Regardless of the changing times, I’ve come to accept that the men around my dinner table, and many of the men in this country, are so desperate because deep down they still believe that the responsibility of “provide and protect“ ultimately rests in their hands. And judging from the kitchen chatter before Sunday meals were served, my family’s women seem to default to that belief too.

I realize I’m leaving out half of the American workforce with my concerns. The women in my life have been mostly silent in the wake of all this turmoil, carrying a stoicism that seems to waver between courageous resilience and vague helplessness. The men are suffering loudly and emotionally, stubbornly refusing to give up their last shred of pride. I’m speaking up on their behalf, Joe, because I’m becoming afraid. Some of them are entering a strain of conspiratorial toxicity where I believe they may endanger themselves or someone else.

Your Big Shot

I believe that, on a deeply emotional and psychological level, my men simply can’t handle another loss in the form of Trump’s loss. In the last four years, Trump has become a mirror into which they gaze and see themselves. Once an unflappable winner, but now? Where do they go from here?

This is where I need you to listen to me carefully, President-Elect Joe. This is where I beg you not to mock, ignore, or vilify. Please look below the surface to see these men through what they feel: disenfranchised, hopeless, and afraid that a future America doesn’t want or need them.

In the midst of the worst economic crisis in our history, our response to previous crises can provide clues as to how to recover. When he enacted the New Deal, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt added two essential American rights to what he called the “Four Freedoms”: freedom from want, and freedom from fear. He used investment in national infrastructure to put the nation’s people back to work, which provided America’s workers that sacred sense of purpose, contribution, and ability to provide to their loved ones. In a 1936 speech to the nation, FDR said, “What was our hope in 1932? Above all other things the American people wanted peace. They wanted peace of mind instead of gnawing fear…they sought escape from the personal terror which had stalked them for three years. They wanted the peace that comes from security in their homes: safety for their savings, permanence in their jobs, a fair profit from their enterprise.”

We just so happen to have a climate crisis barreling toward us that requires a rapid transition of our national infrastructure, else we will suffer even greater economic losses than that of the coronavirus. The workers of this country also happen to be among the most vulnerable to its effects. Do you see where I am going with this?

This is my plea to you, Joe. This is your big shot to bring this nation back together, and to bring dignity back to my family and millions like them. Invest in them. Put them to work, give them a fair shot at providing for their families, and enable them to rebuild our country into a new golden age for all Americans.

Sincerely,

Nina D’Strella