American Voter: Christi Nichols

US President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden are battling for the presidency in a sharply divided United States.

Trump has been focusing on “law and order”; Biden has been trying to strike a conciliatory note. The Black Lives Matter movement – and whether Trump will release his taxes – are among the many issues Americans will consider when choosing their president.

As the hotly contested election approaches, Al Jazeera has been speaking to voters across the US, asking nine questions to understand who they are supporting and why.

Christi Nichols

American Voter Christi Nichols [Courtesy of Christi Nichols]

Age: 41

Occupation: Stay-at-home Mom

Residence: Rainbow City, Alabama

Voted in 2016 for: Donald Trump

Will Vote in 2020 for: Donald Trump

Top Election Issue: Human Trafficking

Will you vote? Why or why not?

“I will. I will vote for Trump because I feel like the country needs to continue in the direction that it was going before the pandemic.”

What is your number one issue?

“Human trafficking.

“I feel like in our country there is a rash of children that go missing and adults too that go missing in our country and in other countries all over the world. And it really needs to be put to a stop, but there’s a flood of people even being brought into our country from other countries.

“Trump is implementing and enforcing the immigration policies that had already been in place … but that hadn’t been enforced before.”

 

Who will you vote for?

 

“Donald Trump.”

Is there a main reason you chose your candidate?

“There are dozens of reasons. The economy – that was actually one of the main reasons I voted for him in 2016.

“I’ve watched him, since I was a very young girl, have tons of successful businesses. And I have watched our economy since I was a young girl fluctuate up and down, and I figure ‘If he did such a good job with his own businesses, why couldn’t he do a good job with the United States’?’ So that is why I voted for him in 2016, and I watched our economy just really do a great job over the last four years. So naturally, since it’s done great, why not vote for him for another four years?”

Are you happy with the state of the country?

“Well, with this pandemic in place of course there’s a lot to be desired, but overall I really think Trump has done a very good job with the main reason that I voted for him: the economy. So that’s why I am voting for him again and, if he were eligible to be voted for again after this, I would probably vote for him for a third time.”

What would you like to see change?

“Well, there’s always room for improvement with any elected official, and I really think he could do a much better job with the healthcare issue. I really think he kind of jumped the gun with trying to repeal the Obamacare thing before he had something else already in place. And I really think he could have done a little bit better job there.”

Do you think the election will change anything?

“Yes, I really do. I think this election will change a lot one way or another. I really think there will be protests, either way, no matter who wins. I really think there’s going to be a lot of unrest on Wednesday morning.”

“And by the time all of that dies down and everything settles, I really think the country will either move heavily towards healing itself under Trump and getting the economy back to where it was or, I really feel like, if Biden is elected that the country will start moving heavily towards, for lack of a better term, socialism.”

What’s your biggest concern for the US?

“The economy, that is the biggest concern if Biden is elected. I really don’t feel like he is capable of maintaining an economy, a strong economy. I don’t feel like he has the negotiation skills to work with other countries to keep trade agreements and things like that with America in mind first.”

“I think he’s going to try to do what he feels like is fair to other countries, and in that he’s going to put the other countries’ best interest in mind instead of America’s best interest in mind. And in that, we’re going to end up getting basically shafted like we had been for many years before Trump took office.”

Is there anything we haven’t asked about the election that you would like to say?

“No. I think you pretty much let me speak my piece, and I’ve gotten everything out.”

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.