This election season is heating up to be one of the closest and most polarized elections in the last several decades. News outlets such as the BBC have shown that the race will be down to just a key few states and only by a very slim margin. As the polls evolve, The Sentry looks to CU’s student body for their opinion on the top two candidates.
Donald Trump announced he would run as a nominee for the 2024 elections even amid the controversy that trailed his last election. With the January 6th insurrection behind him, he looks to reform Biden’s current plans. Selena Strasheim, a CU Denver junior, has been outspoken about her support for former president Donald Trump going into this election.
Strasheim, a Denver native, self-identifies as an independent with values rooted in conservatism and traditional American values. She says that American values include things like “…capitalist values, constitutional law values, pro-family, pro-life.”
“I have a very strong support for our constitution…,” says Strasheim.“I do frequently attend events that promote those values, such as the truth and liberty group.”
A key point for many Trump supporters, including Strasheim, is Trump’s economic policy. Strasheim states that “Donald Trump had great foreign policy, and the economy was much better. Inflation right now is out of control.” NPR’s Planet Money reports that Trump promises “low taxes, low regulations, low energy costs, low interest rates.” This includes new tariffs for Chinese goods that could bet up to 60 percent or 10 to 20 percent on other imports. Strasheim did not directly agree with this but does state that her lack of support for Biden’s agenda is because “… he was already president, I’ve seen the results. I am not happy with the economy today. I felt like it was more productive and doing better when he [Trump] was president.”
However, the largest issue for Donald Trump and many of his supporters is the current policies on illegal immigration. Strasheim states that “In order to address the immigration issue, the United States needs to increase border security and… check who is really coming in.” Trump has said he will implement “the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.” He has also supported the rollback of many Obama and Biden era policies including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), refugee resettlement programs, and temporary protected status (TPS). Strasheim did not comment on these specific policies, but when asked about the immigration comments during the debate, she said, “He [Trump] was trying to explain what a serious issue illegal immigration is. A lot of people are coming from every corner of this earth and we don’t know who they are… that’s going to negatively impact the American people.”
Strasheim supports Donald Trump as a candidate because she believes that he aligns best with the values she finds most important while being someone that Americans can look up to. “He is very relatable to the American people… he is not ashamed to be an American and he makes it okay,” she says. When asked to elaborate on what would make someone proud to be an American, Strasheim states, “Taking pride in our civil liberties and the freedom we enjoy here in America… it’s a blessing to live in a capitalist country.” She continues in saying that “We are allowed to have our own religious beliefs and that’s very important… in other countries that’s not acceptable.”
Selena • Nov 21, 2024 at 5:09 pm
The transcript of the interview:
Unknown Speaker 00:00
A few questions. I have seven right now, but I kind of, I just, I have, like, a loose idea of what I would like to do, and then as it kind of moves, as a conversation moves, we can just go from there. But I am here with, if you want to give me your name, and then I guess we’ll just start with a little bit about you, like, where are you from? Are you from Denver, that sort of thing. And then, yeah, I’ll just whatever you choose to disclose for me on that front.
Unknown Speaker 00:23
So my name is Selena Strasheim. I was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. I’ve lived in Lakewood for most of my life. I’m currently a criminal justice major pursuing two minors in political science and law studies.
Unknown Speaker 00:40
Lovely, wonderful. What brings you to law studies, or, I guess, I guess you’re, like, very entrenched into politics as a whole, already, just within your majors and minors. So what, I guess, what brought you to CU Denver for that, and then also what guided you into, like, the political realm, at least, from what I can tell from your major,
Unknown Speaker 00:57
I’m fascinated by politics and law, and I’m a pre law student. I’m intending on going to law school, hopefully next year. Lovely. And I enrolled in the University of Colorado, Denver, because it’s local to me.
Unknown Speaker 01:11
Okay, so it was more so just like proximity. It wasn’t necessarily that you sought it out. It was just like, Well, I’m here, I guess, yeah, I had a similar thing. I, grew up in Denver, so I was like, this is cheap and easy, so I guess I’ll do that, do you think that you have found useful community here, at least in the sense of, like, other people like you, whether that be through political beliefs and or, like, we have a lot of different types of lifestyles here, like a lot of people are parents, or they’re ex military, et cetera, et cetera. Do you think that you found a corner that suits you, or do you still feel as though, like you’re kind of disjointed from the whole of CU Denver?
Unknown Speaker 01:48
I feel that my political views at the University of Colorado Denver are very unique. It is quite difficult to find others who share similar perspectives and political views at this university.
Unknown Speaker 02:04
Okay, and I obviously approached you at the debate wherein I noticed that you were plotting for Donald Trump more than some of the other, evidently, more than pretty much everyone else at the debate, which is why I came up to you, because I do think it’s valuable to get multiple point of views on that. But just because for audio and for transcription purposes. What would you say is your most correct political alignment? Like, in the sense of like, it doesn’t necessarily need to be Democratic or Republican, but where do you think you fall in the spectrum of political belief?
Unknown Speaker 02:35
I’m currently not affiliated with the Republican Party. I’m registered as an independent. I would identify myself as a libertarian with strong conservative values and traditional American values.
Unknown Speaker 02:49
Okay, can you outline some of those values for me? Like, when you say strong conservatism, like, what does that mean to you, and what does that invoke when you start thinking about it?
Unknown Speaker 02:59
For example, I’m very pro life. I have a very high value for human life. I value constitutional law and I value our Constitution. I’m pro-2nd amendment,
Unknown Speaker 03:17
sorry, just quick interjection. Do you mean constitutional fundamentalism, like reading the Constitution as it is, or just the Constitution as, like a document as whole?
Unknown Speaker 03:27
yeah, as a as the document. Okay. I have a very strong support for our Constitution.
Unknown Speaker 03:35
Okay, cool. Um, do you think, or would you say that you are, like, actively involved in those causes, like do you find yourself being drawn to one more than the other? Evidently, I think the fact that you named those few off the top of your head, those would probably be most valuable to you. But are you involved with, I don’t know, the NRA or other sort of organizations that support views such as your own?
Unknown Speaker 03:59
Not currently, but I do frequently attend events for groups that promote those values, such as the truth and liberty group,
Unknown Speaker 04:10
Okay, could you outline what they do? For me?
Unknown Speaker 04:13
They try to educate students and the younger generation about the Constitution and traditional American values and why it is important to preserve those values.
Unknown Speaker 04:29
Okay, sorry, I do not mean to be like hammered down at this point. But what would you consider traditional American values? Are they the ones that you outlined prior, or are they more, I guess, social views as opposed to like ones that are put into legislation. They know those are really hard to separate sometimes because they are both kind of apparent. But when you say like pro American values, what do you mean by that?
Unknown Speaker 04:52
Capitalist values, constitutional law values, being pro family, pro life.
Unknown Speaker 05:04
Okay. Do you believe that the current course of the United States would support those or and if not, I guess, what do you see in our current political climate? God, sorry, I’m losing my words, political climate that you would believe to do otherwise.
Unknown Speaker 05:23
I believe that the United States as a whole does support those values. A lot of those people may just be silent because they’re afraid to speak up because there is quite a
Unknown Speaker 05:42
pretty
Unknown Speaker 05:45
divisive political climate right now that is being portrayed in the media. It’s very divisive to the American people. However, I believe that fundamentally, we share a lot of the same values. We want a family, a good career, a good education. We want our neighborhoods to be nice.
Unknown Speaker 06:11
Yeah, yeah. Well, and when, I guess, when you talk about that, like I’ve had similar conversations with my friends where I feel as though, like we kind of are trying to attain the same things. Where do you think the divide lies? Like, where do you think we get split so aggressively? Like, right now we do have some of the highest polarization rates that we’ve seen pretty much since the Civil War, and it seems only get worse day by day. People are cutting off their family members, people are losing friends. They are completely, kind of altering their way of living around these political views. Do you think that is a product of our political state, or more so like an emergent property that we’ve observed over time as like, as like, essentially, as we’ve gotten more polarized? Do you think we’ve become more polarized like, as we’ve started to see other parties as like the other? Do you think that has contributed to that? Or is it simply just because our values are different sort of thing?
Unknown Speaker 07:03
Yes, absolutely. I feel like we’ve been turned against each other to see it as an us versus them situation when really we want similar things, we just have different ideological beliefs on how to achieve those goals.
Unknown Speaker 07:22
Okay? And I guess you are, like, I said, pretty entrenched into, like, politics and law within this university. When you’re sitting in class, do you see those disjointments occurring, and do you ever try and remedy them? Like, is there any point where you were, like, I think that we’re on the same team sort of thing here. We just don’t feel like it, because you’ve associated me with some ideological principle.
Unknown Speaker 07:44
Absolutely, I see a lot of that unfolding in class discussions, and I love to get involved and have these conversations with my classmates, and that is part of the reason I enjoy coming to this university, is because the other people in my classes have such different beliefs, and it’s interesting to get their perspective and to have those conversations in a civil way, and not, you know, just arguing,
Unknown Speaker 08:18
Yeah, well, it’s like, semi moderated, right? Because you’re with a teacher, and this isn’t just like a bar fight that you can involve yourself in while you’re out and about. And I do think there is some value to that as well. You know, having someone who doesn’t necessarily need to stop it, because we’re adults and we can monitor ourselves, but there is a little bit more backing in the sense of, like, these people cannot do XYZ because of my political beliefs, and that’s super, super valid, um, and
Unknown Speaker 08:43
I feel like sometimes those conversations can be challenging, but I love challenging myself, putting my views on the table, getting feedback from others, maybe doing a lot of self reflection.
Unknown Speaker 08:59
Okay, well, this kind of pivots into, like a point that I had started thinking about when I approached you at the debate, is that you were walking into a room of, I guess 200 ish people would be, my guess. I’m not entirely sure, but somewhere around that number, let’s just say 150 to 200 people who you probably knew outright disagreed with you, at least on the front of who they were advocating for in that debate. Specifically, do you ever find that when you are surrounded by people who may disagree with you, especially in mass like that, that it makes your beliefs waver? Like, is there any part of you that makes that maybe feels like, oh, not necessarily, I’m in the wrong, but maybe there’s like a shift, because I’ve felt this with like other members of my family who don’t necessarily agree with me. When I’m around a lot of them, I’m like, Well maybe you know, or does it really just make you double down and be like, No, I am even more insistent on these points sort of thing.
Unknown Speaker 09:50
No, I would say I absolutely do not waver in my beliefs, because I have done a lot of research and consideration and talk to a lot of people with differing views, and I found my place and what I believe in. However, I do think it is important to listen to others and hear what they’re trying to say and get their perspectives. I enjoy finding flaws in their arguments and pointing that out and trying to have that influence on them to maybe question their beliefs, but I would say that I am strong and certain in my beliefs. You know, no amount of arguing or yelling will intimidate me or influence me into thinking something different. I am open to listening to their arguments and considering facts that they bring
Unknown Speaker 10:55
Okay, and then I think this is like my last session of questions, at least. So this election is particularly heated, I guess, is the word that I would use, simply because of the two people running for the Democratic and Republican parties. And part of the reason I approached you is specifically because you were cheering for Donald Trump, which, again, is relatively rare on this campus. So it’s been really hard to find people who even talk about it. And even more so, I find that a lot of people who in my life, directly, who I do know, who are Trump supporters, won’t talk to me a lot about it and why they specifically support him, as opposed to conservative values. So could you just walk me through a little bit as to why, at least, from what I saw visually at the debate, you believe he would be a better candidate, or what you think like of his policy, that sort of thing, and that’s kind of a multi dimensional question, so feel free to answer whatever you’d like within that
Unknown Speaker 11:48
sure, a lot of it has to do with comparing our country today to when he was president. Because he’s already been President, I’ve seen the results, and I am not happy with the economy today. I felt like it was more productive and doing better when he was the president. I agree with his foreign policy more because there were no wars when he was in office, no new wars, okay, but when, you know, Joe Biden got into office, all of a sudden, we got the Russian Ukraine war. We now have an escalating Israel Gaza war in the Middle East and other Middle Eastern countries are getting involved. It’s quickly escalating. It’s not helping that the United States is provoking that issue by sending funding, aid, American made weapons, and provoking these other countries and getting involved. And it’s quite literally a proxy war with these other countries that could quickly escalate into a hot war, which is a very dangerous situation. And I agree with Donald Trump, the current leadership in the United States government is weak, and he was somehow able to contain that.
Unknown Speaker 13:20
Okay, he was in office, okay.
Unknown Speaker 13:24
I also like how he is very relatable to the American people. Despite being a wealthy billionaire, many of us are not as rich as he is, however, he is not ashamed to be an American, and he makes it seem okay. He makes it seem like it’s okay to be proud to be an American and not be ashamed of that.
Unknown Speaker 13:50
okay. I’m trying to think because I had a point. I said I completely lost it. I guess we’ll just go back to the thing that you said most recently. So when you say relatable to the American people. I think a huge critique of Trump that I’ve seen is that he is a white man. And not to say that that’s necessarily a bad thing, but if you look at the demographic change in the United States over the last 20 or so years, I mean obviously infinitely before that, but more specifically, over the last 10 or 15 years, I guess. And a lot of people critique the fact that he does not reflect the American people, at least the way that you put it. What would you say to those people if you were able to talk to them, whether or not they be white men? How do you, I guess, deflect that point specifically?
Unknown Speaker 14:37
Well, I’ve been to his rallies. I have been to his speeches. I’ve observed his rallies, you know, in other states online. I’ve even met many others at those events. And there’s a lot of people of color, but nobody wants to mention that . The media completely ignores that and tries to make people believe that he only has white supporters and white supremacists as supporters. But that’s just not accurate. And I would say it’s more than skin color. It’s about being an American. Fundamentally, we all bleed the same color inside. It has nothing to do with the skin color, and I really dislike that a lot of people focus on that because, in my opinion, that’s very racist. It’s not about skin color, it’s about the policies and the actions our government is taking, not about skin color. It should never be about that. I feel like Barack Obama was elected because of his skin color, and he ran on promises to help the black community, and then he didn’t do anything but benefit from his presidency himself. And that’s a criticism that I’ve heard from people of color about Obama, but again, the media doesn’t talk about that.
Unknown Speaker 16:11
Yeah. I. Yeah, sorry again. I don’t really mean to harp on this. I just think there’s a lot of good, good information here. So I guess you keep mentioning the premise of being an American to you. What does that mean? I mean obviously void of identity in the sense of, like, race, skin color, et cetera, et cetera. When you think about, okay, I’m proud to be an American. What values do you think adhere to that, or kind of coalesce that makes someone proud to be an American,
Unknown Speaker 16:39
taking pride in our civil liberties and the freedom we enjoy here in America, there’s a lot of criticism about capitalism, but it’s a blessing to live in a capitalist country, and in many other countries they don’t have the liberties we have here, we can say what we want to others and to our government you know, but in other countries, that’s just not a thing. There’s a lot of persecution. We are allowed to have our own religious beliefs, and that’s very important. Or, if you don’t want to have religious beliefs, you have the right to do that. But in other countries, that’s not acceptable, and people get thrown in prison for years and killed because of that. So there’s this big campaign going on to make socialism and communism look great, but I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else,
Unknown Speaker 17:42
cool. All right. I think my last question then is, I think the debate naturally has kind of evolved to not necessarily be a good way to find out about leadership’s positions on things, and it really hasn’t been that way. I would argue since it started being televised during, I think, the Nixon era, I can’t remember off the top of my head, but about 50 years ago, give or take, right? So with that being said, both parties, I will say, invoke a lot of hyperbole. There’s a big point to have ideological fallacy that’s real, whatever. But, um, there were a couple notes within the debate wherein Trump, for example, did say that this came from a thing that I read, I think, the night before, about Haitians eating pets in Ohio, and when the commentator told him that that has been disputed by the Springfield County, I think I can’t remember as the sheriff or who the clerk maybe, who had reported that that was not true. How do you back someone who, I guess, flagrantly lies like that to that extent, about certain things that are going on in the United States that have been disputed by the cities in which they’re occurring. For example, that’s just an example that I’m pulling off my head because it was mentioned in the debate
Unknown Speaker 19:00
I did not hear about that, but I believe that it was disputed by a local media company, is what I understand, and I don’t believe the media, because they do hide things and lie, and we’re not there, so we don’t know, but I have seen a video circulating from a local saying they have seen vans full of Haitians immigrants and cats, and they spoke to these immigrants who admitted that they were eating them, and said that he had seen this van of immigrants and cats get pulled over by the local police, and they admitted to the police that they Were catching them to eat them. So I believe that there is a narrative for everything, and that we should be aware and question that I agree. To Me there were a lot of the answers from both candidates were not enough. They should be more detailed in their plans to address issues in the country. But also I want to hear more about the solutions that they’re willing to offer, rather than just ad hominem attacks against each other. And I feel like when the PBS guy who moderates the debates, when he had brought up the Haitian pet thing, I feel like there are much bigger issues in our country. And it was like he tried to make that a joke. And the whole point was to display, you know, what Donald Trump was trying to do, He was trying to explain what a serious issue illegal immigration is. There Is a lot of people coming in from countries of every corner of the earth, and we don’t know who they are, but a lot of them are criminals. And he did mention this, that you know these countries are emptying their insane asylums, their prisons, because they don’t want their criminals in their countries destroying their country, and they know that we have an open border, and they’re just coming in, and that’s going to negatively impact the American people. And you know, we need to be aware of that. Immigration is great. A lot of us are here thanks to immigration, but he really supports legal immigration, and I’m on that same boat.
Unknown Speaker 22:18
okay, the legal immigration process right now. Do you think that it is adequate to actually receive legal immigrants at the volume that we are seeing them now, like my. Mom is an immigrant, and she came here legally, and she did everything, as much as she could, and she was never legal at any point, but it was still a relatively involved and difficult process to become a naturalized US citizen. Do you think that’s something that’s okay? Do you think it’s something we should make easier? What do you think the solution in that case, if immigrants are coming in and causing issues because of the openness of our borders? Do you think the way in which we’re gone we’ve gone about it is appropriate? Or how would you fix that? If
Unknown Speaker 23:07
you could, I guess, recommend a solution.
Unknown Speaker 23:10
I agree that there are flaws in our immigration system. It takes far too long, and I will say that. There are a lot of people from other countries fleeing oppressive governments, and not all of them are criminals. But there are a lot of criminals coming in. So in order to address the immigration issue, I believe the United States needs to increase border security and really check who’s coming in, but they certainly should hire more people who will focus on speeding up the immigration process.
Unknown Speaker 23:51
Well to that point, the majority of illegal immigrants are people who are on expired visas, so they had done it legally. Wasn’t that they were necessarily crossing the border in an uncontrolled matter. It’s just that they were unable to get their visa extended for whatever reason. So I. When you look at that, I guess, how would you fix that sort of thing where it’s like the visa process being that bureaucratic and difficult?
Unknown Speaker 24:16
If that’s the case, then they should hire more people in the courts that will focus on speeding up that process, you know, yeah, and getting these people their papers. Legally, there is certainly an issue with the immigration system in which it takes far too long. But on that same note, our borders are open, and there are people with bad intentions coming in, and they’re bringing drugs and weapons and a lot of them are military aged men, and the media is not mentioning that. There may be women and children, but a lot of them don’t even belong to these groups that are presenting themselves as families. They were kidnapped, and they end up being drugged, raped and murdered and sold into human trafficking, and that’s not okay.
Unknown Speaker 25:15
I don’t think I have any other questions for you, so
Unknown Speaker 25:17
I guess if you could leave. Give this, or like people who listen to this with one, not necessarily statement, but kind of like an idea as to. What Trump supporters would like in this upcoming election. I think that would be a great way to tie this off and then, yeah, whatever. Where you’d like, I guess, like a summation. I guess that’s kind of difficult, because there’s so many topics at hand, and there’s a lot of different ideas that kind of circulate. But I guess, yeah, like summarize, to me, why you’re supporting Donald Trump and why you think it’s valuable too.
Unknown Speaker 25:57
Donald Trump had great foreign policy, and the economy was much better. Inflation right now is out of control. Illegal Immigration right now is out of control. The foreign policy right now is weak, and Trump supporters support Trump because he calls out the corruption in our government. He calls out, not only the corrupt politicians in the Democrat Party. He also calls out the corrupt politicians in the Republican Party, and people need to keep in mind that not everyone that promises some great things are really going to provide those things because. It’s easy to speak, but actions speak louder than words and Donald Trump, he is kind of no nonsense. When someone was not doing a good job, he fired them from his own cabinet, and so people should always question what the media is telling them and do their own research