Voters will reject Trump 'chaos,' CNN analyst says
By: ALEXIS WILSON
Nov 02, 2024
Bakari Sellers joins Vice President Kamala Harris at a 2019 town hall at South Carolina State University (Special to The Panther)
“A lot of people are just tired of Donald Trump,” a CNN political commentator said.
On Oct. 31, attorney and former Democratic South Carolina Rep. Bakari Sellers spoke with Panther reporters via Zoom about the presidential election. Sellers voiced his opinions on where the nation would stand if Donald Trump or Kamala Harris wins.
Sellers believes Harris, the Democratic nominee and vice president, will win the election by carrying three key “swing” states.
“I am of the belief, as we sit here today, that Kamala Harris is going to be the next president of the United States. I believe she is going to win Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, which is all she needs to get to 270 (electoral votes),” Sellers said.
He notes that the states of Nebraska and Maine are “weird.” The two “allocate their electoral votes by congressional district.” Nebraska and Maine functioning this way will split votes between Harris and Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump.
“There is one electoral vote in Maine, which is going to go to Donald Trump, and there is on e electoral vote in Nebraska that is going to go to Kamala Harris,” Sellers said.
While he supports Harris, Sellers cited some of the difficulties she has faced in the election. Namely, there is difficulty in running as an incumbent because of the economic hardships in America. The COVID-19 pandemic caused most of the financial distress, he said.
Despite the difficulties, Sellers believes Harris will win with the help of certain groups of people.
“We are seeing the electorate in early voting states become browner and younger, which are our voters. We are also seeing huge gender gaps ... but what is surprising to us are young white women and college-educated white women,” Sellers said.
Sellers said many people have grown restless with Trump and the “chaos” surrounding him. People want to start fresh, and some people see that through Harris.
But Sellers acknowledges that Trump could win the election. He said that if Trump were to win, America would suffer changes including:
Lack of support/stability in NATO
Russia expanding in Ukraine
Tariffs
Inflation worsening
Destabilized markets
Nationwide “Stop and Frisk,” which is the right of police to stop and search a person for any reason
Sellers cited Trump's mental state. He said the “Donald Trump in 2016 is not the Donald Trump ... today.”
By contrast, Sellers said a Harris presidency would include:
Sellers feels differently about this race than those of the recent past. He does not think it will be a tie.
“I think this go around, people are underestimating Kamala Harris voters,” Sellers said.
Early voting is taking place in multiple American states and Sellers said people are misreading the numbers.
“A lot of people are comparing a lot those early vote numbers ... and I say this is not the way this works. We know who all those voters are and the overwhelming majority of voters plus more are coming out on Election Day.”
Sellers believes certain people are going to be catalysts for the next president.
“I believe that college-educated white women, and Black men in Milwaukee, Detroit, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, are going to be the determining factors of who wins this race,” Sellers said.