I have been the target of racial and homophobic harassment from MAGA. I still vote for Trump | Notice

I'm black and gay and until recently, I was a Republican. Then, I was the target of racial and homophobic harassment from MAGA Trump supporters last winter. I was harassed by far-right Republicans inspired by white supremacist Nick Fuentes in Phoenix, Arizona, in an incident that received international attention. The harassment and the realization that the Republican Party has no real interest in neutralizing its extremist elements led me to leave the Republican Party – a decision I stand by.

But my support for Trump is another story.

I'm still voting for Donald Trump in November.

Trump is and always has been what I call a “New York Republican.” He is quite liberal on social issues, particularly when it comes to supporting gays and lesbians. He made Ric Grennell the highest-ranking gay man to ever serve in a presidential cabinet in history when he was named acting director of national intelligence in early 2020. I participated in the campaign election as a member of the “Trump Pride” coalition in 2020.

Still, my vote for Trump in the 2024 election was not guaranteed. I voted for Obama twice and didn't vote in 2016 because I felt at the time that neither Trump nor Clinton deserved my vote. I voted for Trump in 2020, the first time I voted for a Republican presidential candidate. Biden was never an option. RFK, Jr. was ruled out early on as even a remote possibility for me. One option was not to vote, as I did in 2016. It was a decision I thought about for a long time.

I'm done thinking. Trump has my vote in 2024. No matter what I think of the still very active fringes within the Republican Party, I cannot let my negative experience with a few influence the larger issues facing America.

I'm gay and black, yes, but I'm also first and foremost an American. The things that affect me – a wide open border, soaring inflation, the Biden administration's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan – affect the vast majority of Americans, regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation .

It's time for our politics to move beyond the idea that because someone looks a certain way or likes a certain way, they are somehow chained to liberal policies. My experience with harassment was horrific in ways that I haven't really discussed in depth, but as hard as I thought it would be, as much as I struggled, I still couldn't bring myself to return to the Democratic Party.

Author, Rob Smith, with former President Donald Trump Author, Rob Smith, with former President Donald Trump @robsmithonline

The fact that I called white supremacists white supremacists and decided that I no longer identified as a Republican seemed to indicate to some that I had somehow become a Democrat or liberal again. This is certainly not the case. In fact, it was the liberals on social media who made fun of my experience the most. In their eyes, I deserved exactly what happened to me, because I had committed the cardinal sin of voting, thinking, and believing in ways they did not approve of. On social media, I was mercilessly mocked by both black and white liberals. Some even called me racist insults. A simple search for the incident on any social network will show you how “tolerant and inclusive” liberals can be!

The lie that Democrats and liberals are somehow the party of love and compassion is easily exposed by their reaction to my incident of racial and homophobic harassment. This is basically why I made the decision to share the incident through my social media. I was exposing not only the white supremacists who have infiltrated the Republican Party's base, but also the hypocrisy of liberals who claim to love all black people and LGBT people… as long as our beliefs don't make them too uncomfortable.

In my opinion, the 2024 election goes beyond my feelings about certain elements of the Republican Party, or even Trump himself. Trump is not without his drawbacks, many of which are well documented. Trump wasn't my first choice in the Republican primaries, but he is the choice that primary voters made, and he is the only thing standing between America and four more years of madness and insanity that America was also exposed.

Four more years of the disastrous Biden administration is too much for any American, regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, or any other immutable characteristic. An estimated 10 million illegal immigrants have crossed the border due to the incompetence of his administration. As a veteran, Biden's botched and ill-advised withdrawal from Afghanistan is extremely offensive. Thanks to him, Afghanistan is now under the control of the Taliban and leaves behind billions of dollars of American-quality military equipment. 13 American soldiers died.

Aside from that, the average American – gay or lesbian, black or white – feels the pressure of high gas prices, expensive groceries, and a myriad of other small but noticeable declines in our lives American daily.

This is all way bigger than a few dozen stupid young MAGA extremists who harassed me because I'm everything they were taught to hate by far-right influencers backed by dark money .

I'm black. I'm gay. I am a veteran. I have been the target of racial and homophobic harassment from MAGA supporters. And today, I identify as a Trump-supporting independent. Because if the choice is between Donald Trump and four more years of chaos unleashed on the average American's wallets, security, and peace of mind, the choice is simple: It's Donald Trump.

Rob Smith is a decorated Iraq War veteran, political commentator, and host of the podcast “Can't Cancel Rob Smith.”

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

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