ATLANTA: Locked in a tight race for the US presidency, Republican Donald Trump has been pushing hard to make inroads with young, first-time voters.
AFP spoke with three such teenagers in Georgia, one of the most hotly contested of the swing states that will decide the US election on November 5.
‘Someone to look up to’
Kamron can’t wait to blow out the candles for his 18th birthday on Thursday, just in time for the presidential election.
For this high school student, who was wearing a red cap bearing Trump’s name, there is no doubt about who he is voting for.
“A lot of young men don’t like what’s going on in the US right now,” he said, adding that he believes the Democrats were spending too much time on “LGBTQ agendas, transgender agendas” and not enough on everyday problems.
“That’s not really what the young men are looking for right now, they’re looking for a strong, powerful leader that has a backbone, they’re looking for someone to look up to,” he said.
‘For the economy’
On Monday, Trump held a campaign rally on the Georgia Tech university campus in Atlanta.
Cesar Viera, 18, said he’s ready to vote for the billionaire as early as “tomorrow,” taking advantage of early voting arrangements, which are in place in several states.
“Trump would be way better for young Americans,” he said, a US flag draped across his shoulders.
“He’s just the best for the economy right now,” said the teenager, a craftsman who refurbishes houses and who already has concerns about never being able to afford his own.
At 78, Trump would be the oldest man to take oath as US president if he wins. For Viera, however, there are no concerns about his age.
“I think it doesn’t matter, it just matters how he’s doing mentally,” he said.
‘Sense of community’
“Neither candidate is perfect,” said Trenton Dykes, a 19-year-old computer engineering student from Kennesaw, Georgia.
Dykes was unmoved by allegations of racism leveled at Trump, who has repeatedly characterized migrants as “animals” and “criminals” throughout his campaign.
“Based on policy, we’ve already seen him in office four years, I don’t think he did anything racist,” said Dykes.
The student initially supported Robert Kennedy Jr., an independent candidate who dropped out of the race to support Republican Trump.
“I don’t vote based on character,” he said, adding that Trump was “bringing people across party lines.”
This would be Dykes’s second rally for the septuagenarian, and he said he was drawn to “the sense of community, people coming together with the same set of beliefs.”