There’s A DC Political Reporter Who Might Vote For Trump “To See What Happens”
Opposing View: This Election Is Not A Game, Its Result Will Impact People's Lives
Written by Matt Gertz
Published
Somewhere in Washington, DC, there is a political reporter who hates Hillary Clinton so much that they are considering voting for Donald Trump because they think his administration would be a “dumpster fire” that would be more fun to cover and just “to see what happens.”
This election is really happening. The person who wins will be the president. The results will have actual consequences, if not for the anonymous journalist, then for hundreds of millions of other Americans. The president of the United States is the leader of the free world and wields the most powerful armed forces in the history of mankind, as well as a nuclear arsenal that can reduce nations to ashes.
But for this one reporter, it’s all kind of a joke, a game whose result matters only insofar as it impacts their future reporting endeavors.
Identified by GQ only as “Politics reporter, 42, Washington, D.C.” for a feature titled “Inside the Mind of the Undecided Voter,” this unknown journalist says they “cannot stomach” Clinton because they “find so much of her world hypocritical, reprehensible.” In particular, the reporter is offended by the “huge” story about her emails. The reporter could be convinced to support her if she had a “really convincing and honest come-to-Jesus with the media. A real press conference.”
By contrast, the reporter likes Trump because “I believe that sometimes you just have to blow shit up to build it again, and I think that a Trump presidency would do that,” but is held back because of Trump’s tendencies to say offensive things (they give no indication they are worried about the policy implications for actual human beings of either those offensive comments or Trump “blow[ing] shit up”).
The reporter’s statement concludes:
I cover this stuff every day. So for me, four years of Trump, selfishly, sounds a lot more enticing, just because it's going to be a dumpster fire. And a Clinton administration would be more of what we're seeing now, which is carefully orchestrated speeches, behind-the-scenes Wealthy McWealthysons going in and out of the White House, and really horrible transparency with the press.
Gun to my head, I would probably vote Trump because of my feelings about Hillary, and my—I just want to see what happens. But if I were to talk to you tomorrow, I'd be like, “Ugh! I've gotta vote for Hillary!”
GQ gives no indication that their article is a work of parody, though it is difficult to understand how such a nihilistic opinion could be held by an actual person.