As voters around New Hampshire weigh the competing and combating messages from Donald Trump and Nikki Haley, supporters of the two Republican candidates appear to agree on one thing: The country is in need of change.
CNN spoke to over a dozen voters outside a polling place in Nashua, New Hampshire, many of whom expressed frustration with the direction of the country.
Stella Bloom, an 84-year-old undeclared voter, said she voted for Trump on Tuesday because she viewed President Joe Biden as “a disaster” and hoped Trump would make improvements to the economy and to immigration policy. Bloom voted for Trump in 2016, but switched to Biden in 2020, although she said doesn’t plan to vote for the president this year.
“Immigration is my biggest thing, because I’m an immigrant myself. … I want that border closed,” she told CNN after voting Tuesday. “Everything’s gone wrong. The border’s open, the gas prices are up, the food prices are up.”
Doug Brenner, 66, said he’s an undeclared voter but had voted for Trump in the past two general elections. This primary, however, he cast his ballot for Haley because he thinks the country needs “youth” in the White House, an argument the former South Carolina governor has frequently made throughout her campaign as a way to distinguish herself from Trump, who will be 78 years old on Inauguration Day in 2025, and Biden, who will be 82.
“I think it’s time for a younger generation,” he said.
Ryan Owens, a 32-year-old undeclared voter, said he voted for Haley mainly because he doesn’t want to see Trump win the Republican nomination. He said if Trump and Biden were to meet in a rematch, he isn’t sure who he’d vote for. Owens said he previously voted for Trump in the 2020 general election.
“It’s more of a Trump alternative at this point,” Owens said of his vote for Haley. “I like some of her positions on abortion and stuff like that, but yeah, for the most part, the Trump opposition.”
“Trump brings a lot of chaos that I think I’m just kind of tired of,” he added.
Source: www.cnn.com