２０２０年、トランプ氏支持する大統領選初投票の若者たち

【コロンバスＡＦＰ＝時事】2020年の米大統領選まで、3日であと1年となった。大統領選での投票が初めてとなる10代、あるいは20代になったばかりの若者たちの間で、ドナルド・トランプ大統領の単刀直入な話し方や移民政策、これまでの在任期間中に達成した好景気が評価されている。（写真は米オハイオ州コロンバスのオハイオ州立大学で開催された保守派団体ターニング・ポイントUSAの集会に参加した、クレイ・ダネクさん〈左〉とオリビア・マイアーズさん）
　激戦州といわれるオハイオ州の若者らもトランプ氏支持だ。１８歳のクレイ・ダネクさんとオリビア・マイアーズさんは、しばらく前から誰に投票するか大体決めているという。
　キリスト教系の高校に通う２人は、米保守派団体「ターニング・ポイントＵＳＡ」が州都コロンバスにあるオハイオ州立大学で開催した集会に参加していた。この集会で２人とも、自分たちの選択が間違っていないと確信を強めた。
　前回大統領選時のトランプ氏のスローガン、「アメリカを再び偉大に」と書かれた帽子とパーカーを身に着けたマイアーズさんは、「保守的」な家庭で育ったと話す。だが、家庭環境がトランプ氏に投票するという選択の決め手になったわけではない。「左派、右派両方の意見を調べ、２０２０年（の大統領選）は保守派に投票すると自分で決めた」とＡＦＰの取材に述べた。マイアーズさんは、トランプ氏の移民に対する強硬姿勢と、武器保有権を認める米国憲法修正第２条を精力的に擁護する姿勢を評価している。
　一方トランプ氏の再選キャンペーン用のＴシャツを着ていたダネクさんは、トランプ氏の「価値観と道徳的信条」が重要だと話す。「私は懸命に働いてはしごを上った家族で育った」「トランプ氏はしっかり稼ぐ家族を支援し、懸命に働いて家族を養えることに税を課したり、罰したりしない。これは非常に重要なことだと思う」
　保守派団体ターニング・ポイントは、少なくとも書類上はトランプ氏の選挙活動と正式な関係はない。だが、同氏を支援し、全米１５００か所以上の大学で活動を行っている。今秋は選挙結果を左右するフロリダ州やネバダ州などを回り、「文化戦争ツアー」と称する集会を開催し、若者の間でのトランプ氏支持を広げようとしている。
　■次世代の反逆？
　集会の参加者は、会場となったオハイオ州立大の講堂に入る前に、「革命的社会主義者」と自称する反トランプ派からブーイングを浴びていた。
　クリス・バティスティさん（２４）は、同大学で歴史を学んでいる。バティスティさんは、若者がトランプ氏に投票する行為を「体制に中指を立てる」ようなことだと例える。無作法な指導者を支援するのは反逆行為に近く、「現代のパンクロック文化」だと表現した。
　だが、ターニング・ポイントの地域リーダーを務めるネイト・ターナーさん（２１）は、バランスを心がけ、トランプ氏の対立を招きがちな物言いからは少し距離を置いていると説明する。
　「トランプ氏のツイッター投稿は本当に面白い時があるし、私もいいねを押している。しかし、トランプ氏支持に回るはずの多くの有権者を遠ざけたくなければ、少々口を閉じるべき時も彼にはある」と述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2019/11/05-09:09）

They like his straightforward speaking style, his policies on immigration and the economic boom achieved during his administration.
They are still teenagers, or just past 20.
In a year from now, they will vote in their first presidential election in key swing state Ohio -- and they're giving Donald Trump their support.
Clay Danec and Olivia Myers, both 18, have more or less known for a while whose name they would check off in the voting booth.
After attending an event in the state capital of Columbus organized by the conservative group Turning Point USA, the students, who attend a Christian high school, are even more convinced about their choice.
Myers -- sporting a Make America Great Again hat and hoodie -- says she was raised in a conservative family, but didn't want her upbringing to be the deciding factor.
I've been kind of searching both on the left and right side and I've made the decision for myself that I'll be voting conservative in 2020, she told AFP.
Myers cites Trump's hardline stance on immigration and tireless defense of the Second Amendment right to bear arms as key.
For Danec, who is wearing a Trump reelection campaign tee-shirt, the main issue is one of values and moral beliefs.
I come from a family that worked really hard to get up the ladder, explains the baby-faced teen as the crowd exits an auditorium at Ohio State University.
The fact that Trump supports families that can keep making good money, and not having to tax us and penalize us for being able to work hard and sustain our family, I think it is really important.
While it is, at least on paper, not formally linked to the Trump campaign, Turning Point -- which says it is active at more than 1,500 universities across the country -- is behind the president.
It has organized a barnstorming Culture War Tour this autumn in swing states from Florida to Nevada, to drum up support for the Republican incumbent among young voters.
Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk, 26, is the main tour speaker -- though he has welcomed Donald Trump Jr at a few stops. Each event is somewhere between a stand-up routine and a campaign rally.
Attacks on the media and the Washington establishment were the bread and butter of the Columbus event -- with generous high praise for the booming economy and America's greatness mixed in.
- Trumpers: next-generation rebels -
Facing Kirk during the show are hundreds of young people whose political identities seem to have been unleashed by the first three years of Trump's presidency.
John McCary is only 17 years old, but he'll be 18 before November 3, 2020.
His red MAGA hat -- the signature wardrobe staple of Trump supporters -- makes it clear who he will vote for next year, but he says it's also a symbol of his independence.
People don't even listen to my ideas -- they see the hat and assume I agree with everything Trump says. And I don't. There are some things that he says I don't agree with, McCary says.
But because I wear this hat, people don't even care about what I think and that's why I love wearing it. I can have my own thoughts and there's nothing wrong with that.
Attendees entered the auditorium before the event to a chorus of boos and chants from protesters who called themselves revolutionary socialists.
Chris Battisti, a 24-year-old who is studying history at university, was part of the left-leaning anti-welcoming committee. He simply cannot fathom how young people would vote for the New York billionaire.
Battisti likens a Trump vote by a young person to giving a middle finger to the system, and says supporting the brash leader is almost an act of rebellion -- the punk rock culture of the day.
Andrea Spiegler is not afraid of making such a political statement, even if it means losing a few friends along the way.
The 20-year-old economics student says she does not believe in the promises made by Trump's Democratic challengers on universal health care and forgiving student debt.
If you want something, you need to work for it. I have two jobs at the moment, and I'm paying my student debt with no problem, she said.
But what about charges that Trump is a racist or a misogynist? Not everyone is convinced.
I just think a lot of the things that people say and are so mad about now, some of it happened so long ago, said 19-year-old Janie Kopus, who serves in the National Guard.
Nate Turner, the 21-year-old local leader of Turning Point, says he tries to keep an even keel and a bit of intellectual distance from Trump's polarizing rhetoric.
Sometimes he has some really funny quotes on Twitter and I give that a like, but sometimes he should just keep his mouth shut a little bit if he doesn't want to turn off a lot of voters who would end up supporting him, Turner said.