New York City residents have shared their thoughts on former President Donald Trump’s victory and how he grew his support in the deep blue city.
Locals who spoke to DailyMail.com on Thursday gave a variety of reasons why they thought Trump gained a majority of votes across the United States over Vice President Kamala Harris.
They cited everything from the economy, a disastrous Biden administration to ignorance, racism and sexism.
Yet Trump also made inroads within the five boroughs itself, gaining support from minorities like Jewish voters and Hispanics.
Democrats are now scrambling to figure out where they went wrong, but one New Yorker suggested: ‘It was very obvious that the Democrats just faked all the support by buying celebrities to endorse Kamala Harris instead of actually talking about her policies.’
New York City residents have shared their thoughts on former President Donald Trump ‘s victory and how he grew his support in the deep blue city
The former president made inroads within the five boroughs of New York itself
Some also suggested Trump won on economic issues.
‘You know, Democrats have been saying for a while now, like unemployment’s low and the stock market’s doing great and the GDP is doing great, and all that might be true, but people are still really feeling the cost of living,’ a cellist said.
‘Personally, every time I go to the grocery store, I feel it,’ he noted. ‘Every time I have to pay rent, I feel it.’
‘People were willing to overlook a lot of fundamental issues with Donald Trump because they think they’re going to save a few dollars at the grocery store, which is not true,’ another said.
A young woman also said she has spoken to Trump supporters who say they voted for him due to ‘economic reasons.
‘And I’m like, “Oh, what economic plans did you like” and they just don’t really have an answer or they’re like, “Oh tax cuts” but it’s like, yeah but, it’s tax cuts for people that, like, maybe over $900,000-a-year,’ she argued.
At the same time, though, she suggested Trump supporters were disillusioned by the Biden administration.
‘Biden’s presidency wasn’t great and so I think a lot of people are just upset with the Democratic party,’ the woman said. ‘And so I think that’s what swayed a lot of undecided voters to vote for Trump, because I think Kamala supporters there aren’t as many actual Trump supporters.’
Her friend also claimed, ‘People were just scared that Kamala was just going to like keep following Biden’s policies and align with his beliefs.’
Young women suggested Trump supporters were disillusioned by the Biden administration
Another New Yorker also admitted there was ‘dissatisfaction among a lot of men with not being seen somehow by the Democratic party,’ while a woman said, ‘Our society is just very polarized, and going into the election season, I think people just align with different parties and it’s hard for them to acknowledge what is going on.’
Others, though, hit out at those who voted for the former president – deriding them as sexist, racist and ignorant.
One woman suggested there is a ‘lack of education… going on right now and I think a lot of people aren’t really informed,’ while a black man playing chess said Trump won ‘because there was a black woman [candidate] and America is still racist and sexist as hell.’
A drummer also told DailyMail.com, ‘I think maybe Americans are just afraid of electing a female president and I think it was just a lot easier to go with someone whose already been president.’
An older woman, who admitted she voted for Trump, said she thinks Trump won ‘because people are tired of the way things have been for the past four years
Yet one older woman, who admitted she voted for Trump, said she thinks Trump won ‘because people are tired of the way things have been for the past four years.
‘Here it’s like, “Oh my gosh, you vote Republican, that’s terrible!” You know, like they only think there’s one party when they’re not realizing that you’re voting for what’s right for you.
‘It’s not about the person, I don’t like Donald Trump,’ she admitted, ‘but, you know, it’s more about the bigger picture, and I think people forget that.’
The former president even gained more support in the Big Apple.
Vice President Harris won the city by a 37-point margin, far less than the nearly 54-point margin of victory that Biden held over Trump in 2020.
In 2016, Hillary Clinton also beat Trump in New York City by nearly 63 points.
The rightward shift was especially pronounced in Queens, southern Brooklyn and parts of the Bronx, according to the New York Times, as Trump made gains among Chinese and Orthodox Jewish, Chinese and South Asian, and heavily Hispanic communities.
Trump supporters are pictured watching the results of the 2024 presidential election on a giant screen set up at Rockefeller Plaza on Tuesday
Annetta Seecharran, executive director of Chhaya, a nonprofit community development group that serves a largely South Asian population in Queens, said the shift had been decades in the making.
She explained that the path to the middle class has become increasingly narrow for her members, many of whom work in construction or in service industries, or drive taxis.
‘This is a really hard, difficult reality check of where people are in their lives and how difficult it is for them to imagine a path forward,’ Seecharran said, adding that the goal of homeownership has become distant amid stagnant swages and rising housing costs.
‘I don’t think it’s that people don’t care about immigration, or that they’re selfish,’ she said. ‘People are desperate.’
An influx of more than 200,000 undocumented immigrants to New York City and its legally-required efforts to house them has also fueled resentment among some more established immigrant communities, she suggested.
In the end, the diverse group of people that voted for Trump was ‘ripe for the taking,’ Gavin Wax, president of the New York Young Republican Club, told the Times, crediting much of the growth to young men.