Just weeks into the presidency of Donald Trump, some Athens residents remain skeptical about the new administration, telling JOUR 3190 that recent executive orders underscored their concerns about Trump.
Of the 12 people interviewed, only one voiced full satisfaction with both how President Donald Trump had remained consistent with his campaign promises and the executive orders announced thus far in the presidency.
The other 11 interviewees voiced a range of opinions from dissatisfaction to disdain when asked about past actions of President Trump and his current executive orders such as the immigration Ban and the building of the wall.
When asked about the building of the wall between U.S. and Mexico, Claudia Luna, a 23-year-old student said: “I was upset because that’s not fair.”
“First of all, I think building a wall is ridiculous,” said Luna. “My family is from Mexico. So to hear that, that was just really disheartening.”
Similarly, Tom Deal, a 56-year-old resident of Atlanta, called the wall a “boondoggle,” adding that in his view it will be a “big waste of time and money.”
National polls conducted by Politico in early February found that approximately 48 percent of Americans are in favor of the construction of the wall. The same poll also said 55 percent of Americans favored the immigration ban.
Despite these national results, from the 12 Athens residents interviewed last week, a majority voiced strong displeasure in these executive orders.
“[The immigration Ban] was very haphazard and it had a lot of ill effects, never mind the fact that it’s totally not necessary in terms of preventing terrorism,” said Gus Elliott, a 26-year-old graduate student from Valdosta. “It is a complete political obfuscation.”
When asked if these executive orders came as a surprise, there was a general consensus that, based on Trump’s campaign promises, most were skeptical but not entirely caught off guard when Trump did in fact follow through on his major campaign promises.
“A lot of it just sounded like bull to me. It still sounds like a lot of bull so he is consistent on that,” said 23-year-old student Hannah Smith.
“I guess the stuff he talked about – what he was campaigning – we never thought would actually happen. But he has had some executive orders that do really follow through with that…in a scary way,” said Rachel Terns, a 21-year-old student from UGA studying Public Relations.
JOUR 3190 posed six questions to each of the individuals, surveying them on their opinions of these executive orders as well as the so-called “resistance” movements which followed the proposal of such executive orders.
Though few interviewees participated in demonstrations such as organized rallies and marches, the overall opinions of these demonstrations were mixed among those interviewed.
“I do not agree with them because most of those people have not given Trump a chance yet. I think it is definitely dividing everyone in the country,” Will Veringa, a 19-year-old student studying Finance at UGA said.
In contrast, some were supportive despite not personally participating in the demonstrations themselves.
Feredock, a 20-year-old visitor from Savannah, voiced a different opinion. “I think they are good. We are standing together which is obviously what everyone needs. For privileged people, our votes and voices are louder, so we need to help out.”