A group of what's been described as "Never Trump" voters are suddenly backing the former president following last week's historic conviction.
The Free Press spoke with several voters from across the country whose opinions were significantly impacted by the guilty verdict in the New York trial against former President Trump.
Shaun Maguire, a Los Angeles-based venture capitalist and a former Hillary Clinton campaign donor, declared on social media that he donated $300,000 to the Trump campaign within an hour of the verdict, and wrote in an essay that "the double standards and lawfare that Trump has faced" "boiled my blood."
He told The Free Press, "We were told that Donald Trump would be the end of democracy, but it turns out that lawfare tactics have been escalated by the Democrats and not by the Republicans. And so it’s from that backdrop that I believe the Republican Party is less of a danger to democracy than the Democratic Party right now."
University of Chicago Law School lecturer Adam Mortara similarly donated $3,300 to the Trump campaign after not voting in 2020 and opposing him during the 2016 GOP primary, hoping a Trump victory would have a "deterrent effect" on weaponizing the legal system against political foes.
"What’s gotten me off the sidelines is that if he does not win, and by a rather sizable margin, that will validate this type of weaponization of the judicial system in the future," Mortara told The Free Press. "Before, I would’ve said it’s not a danger to America if Joe Biden wins the election. Now, I kind of think it is."
New Jersey marketing consultant Kate Nitti was described as a "lifelong Democrat" who began turning against her party when living in New York City following the COVID lockdowns, voting Republican for the first time in the 2021 mayoral race, followed by support for GOP hopeful Lee Zeldin in the 2022 gubernatorial race.
While previously supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy, the recent conviction may lead to her pulling the lever for Trump.
"I’m no fan of Trump. That said, I have a huge problem with contorting the law or using prosecutorial authority in the name of ‘saving democracy,’ which has been the Democrats’ message for the past four years," Nitti said. "I still consider myself a liberal. I just don’t think Biden Democrats reflect what that used to mean."
Jack MacGuire, a Texas-based travel consultant who voted for Clinton in the 2016 election and supported neither Trump nor Biden in 2020, says the trial "galvanized" him.
"What happened has every level of corruption and deceit and a willingness to use whatever means necessary to stay in power. It just absolutely galvanized me to say enough is enough. I’m all in with the MAGA people, because this has to end," MacGuire told The Free Press.
California-based guitar instructor and recording engineer Emery Barter was another "lifelong Democrat" who canvassed for Clinton in 2016 and voted for Biden in 2020, but "hyper-progressive policies" implemented in his hometown of Oakland has made him second-guess his support for Democrats and question the media's coverage of the political landscape.
"I used to trust the media, but now I feel the media has drifted away from reporting the truth. I just feel everything is completely made up," Barter said.
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Barter went on to say that Trump doesn't "scare" him and, "The narrative is just worn out."
"The idea that this threat to democracy is so great that we must sacrifice democracy to stop this threat through lawfare—it’s an all-consuming idea that can’t be rewarded," Barter said, adding, "If you don’t pay attention and you just check the bluest box, you end up voting for people that aren’t actually interested in carrying out their core function anymore."
Daniel Kotzin, a stay-at-home dad and husband of former Levi Strauss executive Jennifer Sey, had voted for Obama twice and Clinton in 2016. He previously considered voting for Trump in 2020 as a critic of the COVID lockdowns but ultimately backed the Libertarian Party candidate due to the then-president's vaccine push. But now he thinks Trump is the "best option."
"The persecution of Trump is what decided for me because it made me think that perhaps he is different. He is going to put some dirt in the gears. They hate him too much. It really literally is because they’re pursuing him so aggressively and relentlessly that I want to support him. And I can’t be the only one. It’s too much," Kotzin told The Free Press.
"I don’t want a Democrat right now. I don’t want to be ruled by experts. I don’t want better experts. I want no experts. Trump is just going to try and break stuff, and not listen to anything that anyone tells him to do. And I don’t think that’s necessarily a long-term solution. That’s just what we need right now," he added.
Maine state senator and self-identified "Ron Paul Republican" Eric Brakey backed the Libertarian candidate in the past two election cycles, but after "flirting" with RFK Jr., he decided to back Trump, supporting the "principle" that "the people get to choose our president" and donated to his campaign after the conviction.
"Democrats don’t preserve democracy," Brakey said. "They’re afraid that the people, when presented a democratic choice, will not vote for them. Democracy is when the people decide."
