On Jan. 20, Donald J. Trump will be sworn in as our 45th President of the United States. The election was one of the most contentious in recent memory and has exposed or inflamed serious divisions in American society. All this week on Stateside, we’ll speak with Michiganders who were drawn to the President-elect’s message about their hopes for the new administration.
Renee White is a substitute teacher from Manistee. She’s also a mom worried about her kids in today’s economy.
“Issues that are important to me are just that my kids can survive,” she said. “I’m at 50 years of age. I have four kids living with me still, not able to make it on their own… I think that’s a really, really bad place for them to be. And more and more kids are living at home. I think that’s just disgraceful.”
Seven people live in White’s house right now. The family does not have money in savings. They’re living paycheck to paycheck “and it’s hard.”
"He went to the people that needed to be heard."
But White trusts Trump. She thinks he’s the best way forward – someone to fix the problem.
“I’ve seen a huge chance for change for my kids,” she said.
White attended several of Trump’s rallies along the campaign trail. At one, she met the President-elect.
He assured her, she said, that he’s “got this." He told her not to worry.
“This relief came over me, because I thought, ‘This man is confident. He knows something we don’t know and he’s got this in the bag,’” she said. “And I really believe, you know, he went to those places that needed to be heard. He went to the people that needed to be heard.”
To hear the full conversation, including why White sees Twitter as a safe haven in the era of Trump and her views on today’s news media, listen above.
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