I have been a Trump supporter since the beginning. However, much like everyone else in this country I was surprised to find out he would be our new president when I woke up ton the morning of Nov. 9. The question many are asking now is will the candidate be the same or different as a President? I believe there was a lot learned in the President-Elects first interview after his major win.
In the interview, Trump appeared to be humbled and reserved which are traits that were not associated with him during his campaign. Trump still retained his normal defensiveness when Lesley Stahl got to the hard questions. Particularly, when she began asking him questions on Violent supporters. Trump claims to hear maybe one or two instance of violence from supporters while Stahl presses saying they are harassing others. The thing is that yes I won't deny that there are supporters who are offensive. However, they aren't shutting down highways and setting streets on fire. I may only see these instances though because of my conservative bias much like how liberals may only see the opposite.
On political matters, he has lightened up a bit. The wall he has been boasting about his entire campaign, well it turns out he doesn't plan on it being an entire wall. Some parts there will be fence. What I have realized about this wall is that it stands for more. While the wall has been the focal part of Trumps immigration policies that he would lie to implement, it's about strengthening immigration in order to create legal citizens. In this interview he also goes back on his campaign promise to deport all illegal immigrants and recognized that many of them are terrific people. Those who do have a history of criminal activity will be leaving.
When Stahl began asking him about his supreme court appointment, the issue of abortion came up. I am pro-life, I do not approve of abortion unless it is in the case of rape. It is my body and when I do make the choice to have sex it is still my body. I am aware of the possible consequences even with the use of contraceptives as is everyone else who has taken a middle school sex ed class. Therefore, I support the possibility that Trump may have Roe V. Wade overturned and I accept his decision to allow states to have the say on the issue because a liberal New York and California will have differing opinions than that of normally red states. I'd rather not have abortion but I understand that there a many differing opinions out there on this topic. For all the liberals out there who are worried, he did say this issue has a long way to go which suggests he find others issues to be of more immediate concern.
I know this all sounds harsh but overall, it seems like he has softened up and is taking things a bit more seriously. It also seems like he may be trying to please more of the country. He has been saying he will throw Hillary in prison but now he doesn't want to hurt them. It is possible that he sees there are bigger problems that this country faces or now that he has won he doesn't have to compete with Hillary there fore there is no longer a need for him to go after her. It is also important to remember before all this, they were friends so he must like somethings about her and not really want to see her hurt.
While the majority of the interview surrounded President-Elect Trump, his family was brought into show support. They were not asked many tough questions and gave mostly supportive answers on what it was like to see their father, and in Melania's case her husband, achieve his goal of becoming President. For this last portion they did their part in backing Trump as Stahl continued to throw questions their way.
Overall, in my personal opinion Trump did well for his first interview after being elected. The fact he wasn't sure how much the president made and was willing to be paid only $1 a year shows to me that he isn't in this for the money but for his belief and his thoughts on making this country better. It's understandable why many people are nervous with an all republican government in power but it seems like some of the things that he was so tough on in his campaign may have just been to gain support. He is business man after all.
If you want to create your own opinion, check out the full interview here:
