On Nov. 7th, 2020, the presidential race was called for Joe Biden, and thousands took to the streets to celebrate. However, days after the race was called, President Trump began to claim that the election was rigged or massive voter fraud took place. This led to national outrage from both sides of the political aisle, and sparked a “Million MAGA March,” “Stop The Steal” slogans, and conspiracies surrounding the election to circulate through social media.

Through a Google Form titled “2020 Election Survey,” high school students submitted their opinions and beliefs on the presidential election as well as other nationwide issues. Respondents were given the option to remain anonymous, provide their name, or provide their initials. Some answers were optional, so the percentages don’t add up to 100.

Biden Supporters

How did you feel during the Trump administration?

“For me personally, it just sucked. It was a constant fear for me and my family. My elder sisters are both DACA recipients; having DACA is what allows them to stay in the U.S.; hearing President Trump say things about wanting to remove DACA and to hear him say all of those racist things genuinely hurt me because my parents wanted a better life for themselves and their children. So they migrated to America to have better things and expected to be greeted with open arms. But Trump saying immigrants are dirty, rapists, aliens, terrorizers, etc. made me not want to support him in any way shape or form. Some people haven’t experienced what it has been like. So to hear someone say ‘build that wall’ when you know they are talking about you, it sucks.” – Anonymous

“I felt like the nation was being led by an inept child, I didn’t see any large nationwide issues get resolved, saw the state of the nation worsen, didn’t see any nation to nation relationships being built in a good way, and didn’t see our nation being led well or logically.” – Anonymous

“Anger at the rollback of transgender rights, the lack of concern for climate change and violence towards the Black and LGBTQ+ communities.” – Eliana Larsen

“Scared [and] hopeless. I felt like people who supported Trump, several of whom are my close friends, cared more about saving the economy than saving people’s lives, which was a very scary concept for me.” – M. O.

What was the biggest failure of the Trump presidency?

37.5% of the respondents stated “COVID pandemic response.”

12.5% of the respondents stated “The family separation immigration policy.”

9.3% of the respondents stated “Climate change inaction.”

40.6% of the respondents stated “All of the above.”

If you support Biden, why?

“He supports my right to marry who I want and not be discriminated against because of who I want to marry. He’s not dumb as rocks and will surround himself with good people. He’s not racist and will help reform the police and actually do something about COVID.” – Aiden Pacl

“During his 2020 presidential campaign, Biden vowed to support legislation and action to prohibit discrimination against transgender people and to combat hate crimes targeting LGBT persons, including violence and harassment against transgender people. Biden’s approach to tackling coronavirus, the most immediate and obvious challenge facing the country, is to provide free testing for all and hire 100,000 people to set up a national contact-tracing programme. He says he wants to establish at least 10 testing centres in every state, call upon federal agencies to deploy resources and give firmer national guidance through federal experts. He says all governors should mandate wearing masks. He supports raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. In the wake of the race protests that have gripped the US this year, he said he believes that racism exists in the US and must be dealt with through broad economic and social programmes to support minorities – and a pillar of his “build back” programme is to create business support for minorities through a $30 billion investment fund. On criminal justice, he has moved far from his much-criticised “tough-on-crime” position of the 1990s. Mr. Biden has now proposed policies to reduce incarceration, address race, gender, and income-based disparities in the justice system, and rehabilitate released prisoners. He would now create a $20 billion grant programme to incentivise states to invest in incarceration reduction efforts, eliminate mandatory minimum sentences, decriminalise marijuana and expunge prior cannabis convictions, and end the death penalty. He argues that some funding for police should be redirected to social services like mental health, and calls for a $300m investment into a community policing programme. He is proposing a $1.7 trillion federal investment in green technologies research, some of which overlaps with the funding in his economics plan, to be spent over the next 10 years, and wants the US to reach net zero emissions by 2050 – a commitment that was made by more than 60 other countries last year. The investments dovetail with his economic plan to create jobs in manufacturing “green energy” products. In his first 100 days in office, Biden promises to reverse Trump policies that separate parents from their children at the US-Mexican border, rescind limits on the number of applications for asylum and end the bans on travel from several majority-Muslim countries. He also promises to protect the ‘Dreamers’ – people brought illegally to the US as children who were permitted to stay under an Obama-era policy – as well as ensure they are eligible for federal student aid.” – I.P.

Are you “settling for Biden?”

“Yes.” – 57%

“Sort of.” – 10%

“No.” – 0%

How do you feel about Kamala Harris?

“I disagree with her on some subjects, but I support her.” – 10%

“I am settling for her.” – 28%

“I completely support her.” – 10% 

Are you more Pro-Biden, Anti-Trump, or both?

“Anti-Trump” – 53%

“Both” – 20%

“Pro-Biden” – 2%

What are you looking forward to under a Biden/Harris administration?

“COVID-19 plans, climate change ideas and propositions, police reform and gun control, fighting for civil human rights.” – Clover Brann

“Not having to constantly worry about which other world leader the president provokes next.” – T. F.

“A reintroduction to the Paris Agreement.” – S. F.

Would you say your political views align with your parents’/guardians?

“Sometimes” – 35%

“Almost always” – 24%

“Almost never” – 4%

“Always” – 4%

“Never” – 0%

For Trump Supporters

If you support Trump, why?

“I supported his incredible business decisions and political negotiations with foreign countries. I also appreciated his support for religious groups and gun rights. He also wiped out several major terrorist groups and terrorist leaders. That being said, I do not believe Donald Trump is a moral man, he has said some very rude things. However, I believe we didn’t vote him in to make people feel good, we voted him in to get stuff done and to expand and strengthen the country. Donald Trump is not a racist; the things he says may not be politically correct, however, that is MUCH different than racist.” – Anonymous

“Trump has done a lot of good for America, such as protecting unborn babies and continuing to build the border wall.” – Anonymous

How did you feel during the Trump administration?

“I was extremely impressed with the way he handled foreign policy, it also was relieving to know that my second amendment rights would not be infringed.” – Anonymous

“Good. I don’t like his mouth at all or how at the end of his term people all of a sudden didn’t like him and threatened to block anyone who supported his campaign. It got out of hand. I think he did a lot of good that people don’t see because they’re too focused on what he says on his Twitter rather than the facts.” – Anonymous

What was Trump’s greatest accomplishment from his presidency?

“I would probably say the economy and the military. I don’t know super much about the economy but I know I agree with his stance and movements towards controlling illegal immigration, so I would consider that a great accomplishment.” – Ashley Fairbanks

“I believe Trump’s greatest accomplishment was replacing NAFTA with USMCA. USMCA includes tremendous wins for American workers, farmers, and manufacturers, generating over $68 billion in economic activity and creating 176,000 new jobs.” – Anonymous

Is your position more Pro-Trump, Anti-Biden, or both?

Both – 50%

Pro-Trump – 37%

Anti-Biden – 12%

Do you believe voter fraud was committed this election?*

Yes – 100%

*It is the Cougar Chronicle’s job to provide factual and reliable information. Therefore, we must remind our readers that there has been no substantial evidence of voter fraud in this election. 

How will Biden damage the country?

“Legalize abortion in all states, create strict gun laws, and ruin treaties and alliances with other countries. Oh and get Ukraine involved in U.S. affairs.” – Anonymous

“I think that with Biden in charge of our country we will eventually become a communist country if he has his way.” – Anonymous 

“I am a little worried about the healthcare system and his tax plans. As I want to become a doctor, I worry that I may get through the education part just to find that wages for doctors have dropped (and I’m stuck with $200,000 of debt with no way to pay it back) as the healthcare system becomes under government control (and therefore less effective, just look at any military hospital systems). I also disagree with his plans for increased taxation based on income and raising of minimum wage because it will cause a lot of problems (especially with younger people finding jobs).” – Ashley Fairbanks

Would you say your political views align with your parents’/guardians’?

“Almost always” – 62%

“Sometimes” – 25%

“Always” – 12%

“Almost never” – 0%

“Never” – 0%