SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — The Coronavirus pandemic, President Trump’s handling of it, and the controversies surrounding former Vice President Joe Biden are all factors impacting the 2020 presidential election, according to first-time voters.
“I'm so pissed off that freakin’ Trump and Biden in the current situation,” said Phillip Latamondeer, 19 about the fatal shooting of African American George Floyd by a white Minnesota police officer. “I'm going to vote third party, I'm done with both of these people.”
Del Norte High School senior Mithil Pujar who was a Bloomberg supporter weighed in on how Trump’s handling the COVID-19 pandemic will impact the election and his vote.
"I'm just curious about how this entire thing will play out. I mean, everybody can recognize that Trump's handling of the current situation has been fairly poor," said Pujar. "I'm just curious to see how this whole thing will play out from a country's stand. I'm pretty certain that Trump will probably get re-elected."
Trump supporter Matan Bar says the primary race showed the Democratic Party in trouble.
“I think it shows that the Democrat Party slightly acknowledges that the hold that the progressives have on them and maybe trying to lessen it down a bit,” said Bar, 18, Del Norte High School.
We last met with News 8 First-Time Voters on Super Tuesday and now Biden is the remaining democratic candidate. Biden is also dealing with an accusation of sexual assault. However, MiraCosta College student Madeline Austin says she remains a democratic supporter.
“I mean, I don't- I don't like the sexual assault allegations as much as anybody else does. But if we're going to talk about electability with sexual assault allegations, unfortunately, I don't really think it can mean as much as we saw with Trump,” said Austin.
Even with all the back and forth, Morse High School Senior Diego Estrada is still undecided.
“I am waiting for more things to come out. And I'm still kind of developing my political opinions because the most recent events have been kind of changing my mind. I know how I feel about a lot of things now is a very, very weird place to be,” said Estrada.
Many of the high school senior voters in the News 8 First-Time Voters project were accepted to top universities in the nation. Congratulations to them and all seniors.
Watch the complete interview with the First Time Voters group here:
