Welcome change - Some Caribbean-Americans can’t wait for Biden to take office

Some Caribbean-born United States citizens have expressed relief at former Vice-President Joe Biden’s success in the recent presidential election to make Donald Trump a one-term president.

Biden gained 302 electoral college votes and over five million more popular votes than Trump on his way to a historic victory, bagging the most votes by any candidate ever in a presidential election.

“January 20 cannot come quick enough,” New York-based Viola Anderson said, referencing the inauguration date.

“That man (Trump) needs to go. In my 30 years living in America, I have never seen anything or anyone so revolting. Donald Trump was not fit to lead such a great country and we all made a mistake by installing him,” she said as people took to the streets of the Big Apple to celebrate the Biden win last week.

Trump has been a sharp critic of his predecessor, Barack Obama, questioning his legitimacy to have sat in the Oval Office due to a false narrative that Obama was not born in the United States, as required by law to hold the office of the presidency.

“Obama was so charismatic and is the ultimate diplomat. He made us all proud. To have devolved from Obama to that was hard to digest. America is a great country and we deserve great leaders who command respect. The world does not respect Trump,” Karl Walsh, a 64-year-old St Elizabeth native who now resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, told The Sunday Gleaner.

Yet to concede defeat, Trump has claimed that the election was rigged, with many of his supporters taking to the streets to protest against the yet-to-be-proven shenanigans.

Lawyers representing the incumbent have also filed a number of court actions aiming to reverse the final result, all of which have been rejected by the courts so far.

Trump has also fired a number of federal staff from sensitive posts and installed his loyalists in a bid to scupper any effort Biden may make to erase his already tarnished legacy.

“Why can’t he just accept it? He lost fair and square. When he defeated Hillary [Clinton] in 2016, he and his supporters were all smiling ear to ear, and we, who voted against him, accepted it. He can’t leave soon enough,” said Janet Porter, who works at a retail outlet and operates an Uber service in her spare time in West Palm Beach, Florida.

REJECTED AFTER ONE TERM

Trump is the fourth US president in modern times to be rejected at the polls after only one term in office.

Amos Ettiene is a naturalised Haitian who voted for Trump in 2016. He said that he was convinced that Trump had something to offer, but was given a rude awakening after the president described the land of his birth as a “sh..hole” country.

“That was rude and offensive. Haiti is a great nation despite what is happening now, and our history and culture cannot be denied. I could never vote for him after that statement. He fooled me once, but never again. He should go today,” Ettiene said.

The city of Hialeah in South Florida is a haven for Cubans, many of whom fled the Fidel Castro regime in search of a better life in America.

The community is fiercely Republican and many remain bitter after Elian Gonzales – a Cuban boy who was brought to Florida on a makeshift boat from Cuba – was returned to his father on the island by the then Democratic administration.

Antonio Alvares is a descendant of those early Cuban immigrants and served in the US military.

He is aggrieved by reports that Trump described army veterans as “losers”.

“I put my life on the line for this country. I saw my fellow soldiers die beside me in battle to preserve the freedoms and rights of all Americans. We are not losers. Trump is the loser and I went against tradition and voted Democrat just because of that,” Alvares said.

“He won Florida, but I am glad he is out. I will vote Republican if he is no longer on the ticket,” he said.

karyl.walker@gleanerjm.com