Since the start of the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump has gotten a wide range of reactions: some positive and some negative. At Colonial Forge, we have a fair mix of students from each side. The Talon created a survey to get specific opinions from our students.

Sara Boyd (‘18) had concerns about Trump’s personality rather than his political policies and promises. She worried about his character and how that would play a role in his presidency.

“Not only do I not agree with his policies but my main concern with him is his attitude. He is extremely rude and inconsiderate to anyone who is not at the same level as himself,” Boyd says. “Personally I believe that the President of the United States should be a role model [and] a person that people look up to; however, that is not Trump. He should be used as an example of behavior that should not be tolerated.”

Boyd did not favor one particular candidate over the others. By process of elimination, she decided on who she felt would be a better president.

“I was not the biggest fan of either of the candidates and it really came down to which one I disliked the least and that happened to be Clinton. I have still not changed my mind I still believe that Clinton would make a much better president than Trump,” Boyd says.

Anthony Belotti’s (‘18) opinions on Trump were very based on the policies and restrictions that were surely to come.

“As a LGBT person, I knew Trump’s presidency would result in the restrictions on my rights. I knew this before he was elected, as his vice president is a proud homophobe,” Belotti says.

These restrictions came quickly after being elected into office. These restrictions will bring about negative changes for Belotti.  

“Within the first hundred days of office he took away my protections as a trans student. Trump failed to announce pride month or the anniversary of the Pulse shooting. His values only include appeasing the alt right, even if that means minorities suffer. Under his administration I am likely to have my rights denied, [which is] something I cannot stand for. No ‘business man’ that ignores minorities should be considered a good fit for our diverse country,” Belotti says.

Trump’s election into office has brought about many changes, both positive and negative. There are still many areas in which he needs improvement. [expand and try to not sound super or at all biased]

Juan Garcia (‘18) is very against Trump, mostly because of his policies. He had supported other candidates throughout the election instead.

  “During the 2016 election, I was a supporter of Hillary Clinton after Bernie Sanders was out of the race. I believe Trump’s constant discriminatory actions and ill-tempered decision making marks him an unfit president,” Garcia says.

After Trump won and Garcia was able to see him make progress as president, his opinions didn’t changed. He feels as if the country has moved backwards instead of forwards.

“[My opinions] have been strengthened after the election. Donald Trump’s actions have proven his inability to be a fit leader. His views reflect opinions of decades when discrimination and oppression was rampant and I furthermore believe his term marks a regression in American moral values,” Garcia says.

Social media played a large role in the most recent election. Nena Garcia (‘18) explained her opinions about how media, most particularly Twitter, was used.

“I feel like posting tweets on social media is basically a way to be ignorant towards situations,” Nena says.

She feels as if exposing issues on Twitter caused more harm than good and brought forth a lot of negative attention towards him. People replied to his tweets with a lot of negativity and felt as if problems were not taken seriously enough.