30 Americans Share Their Greatest Fears For The Next 4 Years Under Trump’s Presidency
By Heidi Priebe
1.
“I am most concerned about how this election will effect our international relationships.”
2.
“I strongly believe that most of Trump’s supporters are good, decent people who had felt disenfranchised and betrayed by 8 years of a Republican presidency followed by 8 years of a Democrat presidency that wound up doing nothing to help them. They were desperate for change. I understand why they wanted to vote for someone like Trump, who, in their minds, represents a giant middle finger to the current political establishment.
However, some of Trump’s supporters are racists, sexists, misogynists, and xenophobes who have been brimming with a desire to unleash their hate and bigotry on those who are ‘different’ from them, under the guise of “we don’t have to be ‘politically correct’ anymore.” My biggest fear, already coming true, is that these people will be emboldened by Trump’s victory and begin carrying out hate crimes en masse against people of color, women, the LGBTQ community, and immigrants. I’m also afraid of further division in this country. That we’ll become even more polarized than ever before.”
3.
“Many of my friends and family voted for Trump solely due to Hillary’s belief on abortion and I’m concerned they’ve been lied to. As someone with a chronic illness, I worry about health care. Also, the way I see my own friends ripping each other apart because of political differences makes me wonder how we can hold our country together.”
4.
“I’m afraid for rights of minorities, particularly my LGBT, Hispanic, and Muslim friends. I fear that hatred will spread.”
5.
“I’m afraid that people won’t give our new leadership a chance. If it’s all about tolerance it goes both ways. I happen to be a conservative but I have always done my best to support our leaders whether or not I agreed with everything. We are still a privileged nation with many freedoms other countries do not have, but I am afraid in this day and age people are so concerned about their own personal rights/wants that they can’t even see that.”
6.
“I’m afraid that damage will be done to the already fragile race relations, gender equality, and other minority issues such as the LGBTQ.”
7.
“I’m afraid that Trump will not come through with his promises.”
8.
“As a white, straight, Christian man, I’m afraid for every single American who doesn’t fit my description. Donald Trump was elected by people who fit my description and only cared about how the presidency will benefit them. Now that he’s in office, there’s no telling what he will do — he’s mentioned deporting Mexicans, enacting police stop-and-frisk and banning Muslims, not to mention women are currently pressing charges against him for sexual assault. At least right now, it seems as if the Trump presidency will give complete freedom to my demographic while taking away the freedoms of literally everyone else, which is terrifying.”
9.
“I’m afraid that the people of my country will be unable to come together again. I’m afraid of divides between family and friends that refuse to heal over politics.”
10.
“I’m afraid of WWIII.”
11.
“I’m worried about economic policy, escalating hatred, climate change worsening.. basically the beginning of the end of the world. Which is likely.”
12.
“I’m afraid that Trump is going to roll back the progress we’ve achieved in reference to social justice and liberties. That he will overturn Roe v Wade, that he will overturn marriage equality, that he will allow Pence to push his anti-LGBTQA+ agenda, that he will appoint extreme right wing perspectives into an already overwhelming red White House.”
13.
“I’m worried about the Regressive Leftists attacking me for not agreeing with them…”
14.
“I’m Mexican American. I fear Trump’s goons will be emboldened to do monstrous things. It is no exaggeration to say that women, Mexicans, Muslims, blacks, other nonwhites and even Jews in America are trembling in fear over the prospect of the next four years.”
15.
“I’m afraid of Trump reversing actions already made to prevent things like the Keystone Pipeline, planned parenthood losing funding, and men thinking it’s ok to grab me by the p*ssy.”
16.
“I’m worried about the Supreme Court appointees.”
17.
“I’m afraid that all the hard work toward civil rights that my Black and female and LGBTQSA parents and grandparents and foremothers fought for will be undone and that their dreams that I would get to live in a safer, more equitable society are now unattainable. I am afraid that as a person born in a black, female, LGBT identity, that I will be assaulted and killed or have my rights stripped away – that I won’t be able to marry the person I love, and that if something happens to me or someone I love, the perpetrators will gloat with no fear of justice.”
18.
“I fear: the abandonment of the Paris Agreement and a worsening climate change burden, women’s reproductive rights being attacked and Planned Parenthood being defunded, and civil liberties being violated.”
19.
“I fear that the people who ‘lost’ or feel like Trump is the devil incarnate will be unable to set that aside and be supportive and respectful.”
20.
“I fear an America where men feel like they can get away with sexually assaulting women without consequence.”
21.
“I’m afraid that people will continue to ignore why Trump came to power – there are more than millennials in this country and it is important for us to love EVERYONE not just the people who are obviously marginalized.”
22.
“I’m scared that LGBT protection acts will be overturned and I won’t be able to get married (I’m gay).”
23.
“I’m afraid of liberals going crazy and refusing to accept that a majority of America disagrees with their values or lifestyles.”
24.
“I’m genuinely afraid of Trump getting into a saber-rattling duel with Kim Jong-Un or another similar leader who has nuclear capabilities. Trump’s mouth scares me on an international stage.”
25.
“I fear being a laughing stalk of the world, having a president who is inarticulate, lacking character, lacking understanding of the job to make poor choices and become the distraction from America making progress. I want my protest vote to count and not just set up America for becoming something that looks more like socialism — that promises free help but lowers available services and demotivates entrepreneurs.”
26.
“I’m scared of myself or my partner being attacked or killed for being queer, and of losing my job, healthcare or apartment for being queer and transgender.”
27.
“I’m terrified of losing my health insurance. I’m low income and can’t afford treatment otherwise, even if an affliction is life threatening.”
28.
“I’m afraid of America moving in a backward direction. I was glad that my child was living in a world of forward progress, but I am afraid he will have to live through turmoil as we re-progress in the future.”
29.
“I’m afraid that people will still not get the point that democracy has been ignoring the rights of both the individual and the minority since it’s invention but these awful violent people only care when it directly concerns them.”
30.
“I’m afraid that our government will get so caught up trying to backtrack human rights that they’ll completely neglect the country’s environmental and economic concerns.”