It’s been two weeks since Radio IQ’s Brad Kutner sat with voters at a downtown bus stop and found out just how uninterested they were in President Joe Biden’s 2024 re-election. Now, with Vice President Kamala Harris likely taking over the ticket, he returned to find out what voters think.
Laronne Gibson, a self-employed mechanic and faith leader, who said he wasn’t impressed by Vice President Kamala Harris taking over the Democratic ticket.
“I haven’t seen anything she’s done. Nothing,” Gibson said.
He also said Donald Trump’s administration was better for the economy. He’ll likely vote for the Republican nominee.
Apachee, a disabled former building maintenance worker, said he last voted for Barack Obama in 2012. A former New Yorker, he said he’d never vote for Trump after living in a building owned by the former President's Father.
“He used to disrespect my mother, he’d come and pick up the checks. And he was very nasty,” he said. “So, you can see where his son got it from.”
But Apachee also took issue with Biden’ tough on crime record in the 80s, and he’s not too sure about Harris, the former Attorney General of California, either.
“I don’t trust her,” he said.
Duarte Crews, a utility worker, said he voted for Biden in 2020 but wasn’t thrilled to vote for him a second time. Now he’s worried about Project 2025, a conservative plan for a major overhaul of federal government functions and benefits. While Harris is more appealing, he wants to make sure the current Veep appeals to everyone.
Himself a Black man, he told Radio IQ, “She's gotta be for everybody. Don’t just do it for Black people or for Women,” he said.
Student Atalie Dempsey also wasn’t looking forward to voting for Biden a second time. She called Harris an improvement, but: “It is a little frustrating we didn’t get a proper primary process.”
Still, Dempsey said she was voting blue no matter who.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
