‘I am ashamed as a Republican’: Watch these 9 Trump voters explain why they won’t do it again

06/08/2020 11:05 am ET • Mackenzie Zlatos

Flickr/The Epoch Times

Donald Trump is now an underdog in the 2020 election, according to CNN and other polls.

The Trump campaign is pouring money into ads in swing states, only to be met with dismal results. Perhaps the most dismal result of all is the desertion of voters who had originally voted for Trump in 2016 but have promised to do so no longer.

Republican Voters Against Trump has compiled a collection of videos created by Republicans that will not be voting for Trump in November.

Listen to these lifelong Republicans:

‘He has shamed us’

“I’m a lifelong Arizona Republican,” said Lance in one video. “I am ashamed as a Republican to what our president has done to our country. I voted for him in 2016, and I will not vote for him regardless of if there’s anybody even running against him at this point.”

Lance’s reason for avoiding a repeat of 2016? “He has shamed us,” he stated. “It breaks my heart that this is what happened. Right now we’re at a point of high racial tensions, and even that is something that he continues to flame.”

‘A dialogue of hate’

“I’m posting this video after a few years of feeling regret and almost ashamed of my vote in 2016,” said James. “I voted for Trump because I thought he was the lesser of two evils, and I wanted to give someone who wasn’t a career politician a chance to test new things and try new things that historically haven’t been done.”

But what James thought would be a good change turned out to be a bad change. “He’s opened up a dialogue of hate that has given the pressure to people to treat each other in ways that aren’t good. He speaks to reporters awfully, his tweets are racist, his rhetoric, everything about him, is negative.”

‘You can’t do that’

“I believe in most of Republicans’ platforms,” Wayne said in a video. “I followed the campaign and could not bring myself to vote for Hillary, so I voted for Trump. And I was hoping he’d become a little more presidential, but he has not.”

Wayne elaborated, “He’s running the country like he’s running his businesses, just borrow, borrow, borrow. And then when you run into bankruptcy, you just walk away and leave the banks holding the bag. But you can’t do that with a country.”

Tyranny is ‘happening right now’

“I used to call myself a fiscal conservative. I was liberal-leaning in the places it needed to be,” explained Chris. “But I can’t even consider myself a fiscal conservative anymore, because today I was shot at with rubber bullets by my own local law enforcement officials.”

Chris continued, “I’m a veteran of the United States airforce, and I’m a retired firefighter on medical disability.” He said, “When I signed on the dotted line, I signed on the dotted line to prevent tyranny from happening to my country. And it’s happening right now.”

‘Incompetent and dangerous’

“Montana’s a deep red state, and I’m a life-long Republican,” said Joni. “I voted for Donald Trump in 2016, with the hope that he would really make America great again. I along with many others have been disappointed. The man is incompetent and dangerous. He’s only proven that from the minute he took office.”

Joni explained what pushed her to not vote for him again: “His mishandling of the coronavirus, and the way that he has handled the situation with George Floyd’s tragic death, is beyond outrageous. Just when you think that he couldn’t get more outrageous, he rises to the occasion and proves you wrong.”

‘Megalomania’

“I voted for Trump in 2016,” said Marie from Connecticut. “I was disillusioned by his ‘Make America Great Again’ logo. I believed him.” But now she no longer believes him. “Today I am ashamed of myself for, I almost feel, voting for someone who could be opposed to what I hold dear.”

She explained, “He speaks to a group of people who I cannot support at all. To me, Donald Trump, especially now, but along these past three years, has shown that it’s all about Donald Trump. It’s all about his megalomania. And the firing of inspectors general is just an example.”

‘Donald Trump has clearly failed us’

“Like a lot of you, I voted for Donald Trump in 2016, even though I knew he wasn’t really a conservative at heart,” said Chris, a former Republican county chairman. “Given the alternative, I voted for him, hoping he would grow into the office. But after watching him for 3+ years, Donald Trump has clearly failed us as a leader.”

Chris elaborated, “Leaders step up in tough times, they don’t brag, they don’t call people names or have trouble speaking the truth. They don’t need to. The buck stops with them. Everyone knows it. Donald Trump has repeatedly told us the opposite.”

‘A pathological liar’

“I voted for Donald Trump in 2016,” said Jay. “I cannot and will not vote for Donald Trump in 2020. In spite of the fact that I support a number of the policies from the Trump administration, like decreased regulation, reduce taxes, the conservative Supreme Court nominees, and the conservative lower court nominees, simply everything else to do with Donald Trump outweighs all of those things that his administration has done.”

Jay then explained what Trump had done, “Donald Trump is a pathological liar, he is a sociopath, he is a narcissist, he is a misogynist, he is a bully. He has shown absolutely zero leadership.”

‘He has gotten progressively worse’

“I voted for Donald Trump in 2016,” said David in his video. “I thought he’d be good for business and be a better choice than his opponent. And I have spent three and a half years hoping that he would become more presidential than he has. Over those three plus years he has gotten progressively worse.”

David continued, “His handling of the COVID-19 pandemic was the final straw. I believe that he has no interest in our welfare. I think he has no interest in Republican values. And he is toxic for this country. I believe four more years of Donald Trump will lead this country into what might become a civil war.”