The 2020 US presidential election had the world at the edge of its seat. Even though elections mostly concern its citizens, almost everyone was tuning in to this one because the result will also be affecting other nations. While Joe Biden has already won the popular vote and the Electoral College, Donald Trump refuses to concede because according to him, the election was rigged.
The Trump campaign has filed lawsuits to dispute the count so the “official” result has yet to be announced. However, Trump seems to be ready for whatever the results may be because he said he’ll announce 2024 candidacy as soon as Biden is certified as a winner.
Despite Biden surpassing the minimum required Electoral College votes to win, Trump wasn’t far behind in the popular vote. While white people make up the majority of his voters, he also has a lot of Filipino-American supporters. While Fil-Ams are a minority in the US, almost 2 million were eligible to vote.
One of the main reasons why there are Filipino-American supporters despite Trump’s poor handling of COVID-19 and contentious stance on immigration is because Filipinos are known to have conservative values. This can be attributed to the Philippines being a predominantly Catholic country.
When asked about their support for Trump, a group called Raise the FilAm Voice said that aside from cherishing family, freedom to succeed, and faith, they are also traditionally conservative. Since Trump is against abortion and even expressed his support for banning it in the US except for special cases, some Fil-Ams are siding with him for this.
Aside from sharing similar values with Trump, it is also worth noting that the President of the Philippines called on Fil-Ams to vote for Trump. If we go back to the US and the Philippines’ presidential elections, you can see similarities in Trump and Duterte’s taglines: ‘Make America Great Again’ and ‘Change is Coming’.
While Trump’s line worked the first time around, he wasn’t so successful this time.
Cover photo courtesy of Joseph Cipriano and the Library of Congress
