Olivia Singh, Matthew Ruppert, Amina Talat Had Their Hopes

Editor’s Note: This article was undergoing editing before Donald Trump became the President-elect.
Article by Kay-Lee Ebanks, November 11

Olivia Singh, 21, did not know whom she supported as President when she registered to vote. “I’ve thought a lot about it,” said the media major whose focus is journalism. “I know both candidates aren’t perfect, both are flawed in their own way.”

Hillary is her choice said Singh, who sat on the steps by Room 470 in the Hunter North Building, and wore a black North Face jacket, a burgundy hoodie, black leggings, and a pair of black vans when she was interviewed.

“Hillary will do far more for the country than Trump ever will,” said Singh, a registered Democrat and Queens resident.

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Registered Republican Matthew Ruppert, 18, said that he was leaning more towards Donald Trump. He said that Trump’s plans will help the working class and that he is also swayed because of his family’s political views, who according to Ruppert, are all registered Republicans.

Trump “caters more towards the working class people and he’s trying to make America rich,” said the bio-chemistry major who wore grey sweatpants, black adidas sneakers, a grey hoodie and a black coat. Ruppert, interviewed on the third floor of the West Building, also said that he believed that Trump’s economic policies will help with his career after graduation. Trump will “make America rich again.”

“Although he avoided taxes, Trump will try hard to make a balance towards a general middle class where profits will be evenly distributed,” said Ruppert. The New York Times published an October 31 story headlined, How Donald Trump Avoided Paying Taxes Using Other People’s Money.

The freshman said that Trump’s immigration plan “won’t affect him” because he was “born here.”

Amina Talat, 24, born in Lahore, Pakistan, and who has lived in America for over 23 years, said, “If I could vote, I would vote for Hillary,” said the media studies major whose focus is journalism. “She knows about politics and is not an entertainer. She has a good team behind her and she is not only looking out for the rich people.”

Talat, who sat by herself at a table in the third-floor cafeteria and wore a black turtle neck sweater with blue jeans and black ankle boots, said that she liked Hillary’s education reform policy.“You need more than a bachelor’s degree to get a job now-a-days and not a lot of people can even afford that because of the price of tuition,” said the senior, who lives in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Talat also said that it would greatly help college students if Hillary made college “free or even cheaper.”

 

Kay-Lee Ebanks can be reached at kay-lee.ebanks38@myhunter.cuny.edu