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Paul and Jiffer Bourguignon
At the end of last year, my 74-year-old father asked for his partner Sue's hand.
The two wanted to get married in spring and were looking forward to a carefree evening together.
Then Corona broke down on everything.
Their plans were postponed indefinitely, they spent most of their time indoors, only going shopping at six in the morning when the stores were open especially for seniors who wanted to avoid crowds and chains of infection.
With friends, they only met once in the park, wearing masks and always with the necessary distance.
"I was wrong. And how."
Jiffer Bourguignon
When the infection rate rose exponentially that summer and it became clear that there would be no vaccine anytime soon, my father and Sue decided to forego a big wedding and instead celebrate a small one.
So I covered myself in FFP2 masks and flew 18 hours from Hamburg to Charlotte, North Carolina.
A few days later, US President Donald Trump tested positive for the corona virus.
I thought that at the latest Trump's handling of the pandemic could perhaps lead to shaking my father's rock-solid support for Trump.
I was wrong.
And how.
Four years ago, former SPIEGEL employee Jiffer Bourguignon was horrified when her father voted Donald Trump.
Shortly before the election and almost two months after Trump took office, the two discussed the US president in SPIEGEL.
Now, around three and a half years later, they met again for an argument.
And Jiffer cannot believe that her father still likes Trump.
Their discussion shows how hard both sides, Democrats and Republicans, are trying to maintain the authority to interpret the situation in the USA.
Dad:
You have to admit: Without the pandemic, Trump would have the choice in his pocket.
Trump has accomplished more in 46 months than Biden has done in his 47-year career.
Me:
That's true - if you think it's an achievement to single-handedly endanger American democracy and destroy our standing in the world.
Dad:
Don't be silly!
He has achieved more than almost any other president has ever achieved in a first term.
Many politicians make promises and don't deliver, he already has or at least tried to.
Me:
What do you think are his
biggest hits
?
Dad:
He has installed more than 300 Conservative federal judges and is in the process of appointing his third Supreme Court Justice.
He cut taxes, pushed ahead with deregulation, and the economy was better than in the past 40 or 50 years.
Me:
But it wasn't just thanks to him.
Trump came into office in the middle of the boom.
Obama, on the other hand, came to power in the middle of a global recession after the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy.
He inherited a mess and ended it.
Employment growth began under Obama and the momentum has continued.
Dad:
It may have started with Obama, but Trump took it to the next level.
The stock market is booming, and that means many people have more money in their pension plans.
He also brought jobs back to America, and he forced the auto industry to stay here instead of sending those jobs overseas.
Me:
And now we are experiencing the highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression.
Dad:
Come on!
That's just because of the pandemic!
You can't blame Trump for that!
Me:
No, but I can blame him for his completely incompetent handling of the pandemic!
Dad:
I think he did his job the best he could.
He's the one who stopped the flights from China before anyone else.
He surrounded himself with the best people and followed their advice.
Me:
does he have that?
I remember stabbing each of them in the back and then the World Health Organization.
I also remember him blocking state access to medical equipment, criticizing Democratic governors for their protective measures, and long refusing to wear a mask.
And then also suggested that maybe you could try bleaching agents against corona ...
Dad:
Oh, stop it, he didn't really mean it.
Me:
no?
But after surviving Covid-19, he said he was feeling better than he has been in 20 years and that Americans shouldn't let the virus control their lives.
Dad:
He's trying to show strength and that he's still in charge.
Me:
But what do you say when he admits that he deliberately downplayed the pandemic, that is, he lied to the American people?
You haven't been out of the house for six months, you hardly went to the supermarket, you rarely met friends, and when you did, in the park at a distance and with a mask.
You followed all the rules - he didn't.
Dad:
Would you prefer him to stand in front of the American people and say, we have a problem, it's time to panic?
Me:
You mean, would I prefer him to tell the truth?
Naturally!
Dad:
Well, he really should have promoted wearing masks earlier, but I'm sure he tried everything to save the economy.
He's trying to keep the shop and the country going.
Me:
More than 220,000 Americans have died in the meantime!
He downplayed it instead of taking responsibility and working out a plan.
Had he put restrictions on earlier, he might have saved many lives and the economy would be better off in the long run.
Dad:
As if the Democrats did better!
Look at all the democratic governors who refused to listen to him and accept his help.
For example when Trump offered to send the National Guard to stop all the unrest and looting that began after the death of George Floyd.
But the Democrats did nothing.
Me:
The Democrats didn't want to tackle the real problem - police violence and systemic racism - with even more brutality.
Dad:
The Democrats should have cracked down on violence.
But Biden doesn't even mention it.
Not to condemn it is to tolerate it.
And the Democrats are only talking about cutting the police's budget.
"I don't like his Twitter tirades either. And I cringe every time he opens my mouth. But I like what he does for the country. And that's why I hold my nose and choose him."
Paul Bourguignon
Me:
That's not true.
Biden has specifically said that he does not want to abolish the police.
And it is still completely unclear who the people are who are causing the violence.
There are various reports and little clarity about them.
Dad:
Well, I'll tell you one thing, people like me sit here and watch TV in the evenings and see these riots, the fires, the shootings and so on - and we're going to vote.
I guarantee you that.
And I've heard that arms sales among private individuals have increased tremendously, and all because the Democrats have not mastered the riots and demonstrations.
Me:
Great - Trump refuses to condemn people like Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old who drove a semi-automatic machine gun to Kenosha and shot three people, and even praises him for taking matters into his own hands took.
What message, please, is that sending out?
Trump is playing with people's worst fears - and not subtly.
After Kenosha, he tweeted, "Hey, suburban white women - you're next."
That is reckless and irresponsible.
Dad:
I don't like his Twitter tirades either.
And I flinch every time he opens his mouth.
I don't like his insults and a lot more.
But I like what he's doing for the country.
And that's why I hold my nose and choose him.
And I am not alone.
The only way Trump could lose would be if there was election fraud.
Those postal ballot papers are a joke - I've already received four in the mail!
Me:
Do you really believe that - that Trump does not lose because of the will of the people, but through election fraud?
Dad:
I think he'll win despite the pandemic.
Because more people are doing better today than four years ago.
And even if they don't like him personally, more Americans think he did a good job, even if they're afraid to say it out loud.
I am voting for Trump the Republican, not Trump the man.
Me:
But how can you separate them?
This is no longer the Republican party you used to vote for.
It became Trump's party.
It may still stand for lower taxes and a smaller state machine, but otherwise, I think, it no longer represents you at all.
In the 1980s and 1990s, at least one had the feeling that even if you disagreed with the Republican Party, it stood for something they believed in.
It is so obvious with Trump that he is not fighting for anyone or anything but himself, his own benefit and his ego.
And if that benefits a few Americans ...
Dad:
A couple of Americans?
Unemployment has never been lower for Latinos, Asians, and African Americans.
Me:
And this is where you tell me Trump did more for African Americans than any other president?
Dad:
That's it!
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Black Lives Matter demo in Atlanta, Georgia: In the USA there have been violent protests against black people over police violence since spring
Photo: Sanjeev Singhal / imago images / The Photo Access
Me:
I don't think the hundreds of thousands of peaceful protesters from Black Lives Matter would agree with you.
And Trump's refusal to denounce racists and other white hate groups more clearly now allows them to act accordingly.
Dad:
I really don't understand why he has such a hard time distancing himself from these extremist groups.
But again, I'll look at what he actually did: he cut middle class taxes and corporate taxes, which means that companies can grow and hire more people and those people pay more taxes, which in turn is long-term will finance the tax cuts.
Me:
What if Trump paid his own taxes first instead of claiming losses and paying only $ 750?
Dad:
Oh come on!
Do you want to talk about that too?
Me:
Yeah, sure, why shouldn't we talk about it?
Why don't you think he should have paid more?
Dad:
Because I was in the real estate business.
I think a lot of his money is tied up in real estate and he probably just isn't very liquid.
And he has to deduct the losses.
Besides, you can't trust the liberal media.
Me:
Can you trust the right media?
They are nothing but pure pro-Trump propaganda.
They can't even defend him anymore and instead try to distract people from what he did or said by attacking the Democrats.
Dad:
Of course they attack the Democrats, after all they have become a party of the Socialists.
Biden would not make it through four years in office, and then the extreme left of the Democrats would take over.
I've worked my bum my whole life, working 60 hours a week to support my family.
And the Democrats want to open our borders to illegal immigrants who come in and get free education and free health care.
That's not fair.
Me:
People who risk their lives to come to this country don't do so because they want to go on vacation.
They do it because their home life is threatened by either crime or poverty, and they want a better life for their children - something that I'm sure you can understand.
Dad:
Well, if they come in legally and get jobs and pay taxes, well, let them all in.
I do not care.
But it has to be legal!
Me:
What are they taking away from you?
You're a religious man.
You regularly go to church, help out in the local soup kitchen, and donate money and time to social causes.
There's the old saying, "What Would Jesus Do?"
I don't think he'd put kids in cages at the border.
Don't you find that contradicting one another?
Dad:
I like what Trump has achieved, not the things he says and how he acts.
Me:
Exactly because character is important.
And I think you care too.
And that's why it's so surprising to me that you can overlook so much.
I can not do this.
And I'm really tired of explaining to my kids why they can't say "crap countries" when the president said so.
"This is probably the most important choice in my life. Yeah, really."
Paul Bourguignon
Dad:
Yeah, I really wish he'd shut up more often.
Me:
Now you're talking like a democrat!
Dad:
One thing is certain: this choice is different.
This is probably the most important choice in my life.
Really.
Me:
We agree on that.
Shocking huh?
Because I also believe that we are at a crossroads here.
And if Trump is re-elected, the next four years will have devastating, long-lasting effects.
Dad:
And I think if the Democrats win, this country will never be the same again.
Icon: The mirror