I'm 18 and I'm Voting For Trump (Episode 58)

🎧 From liberal roots to Trump supporter - 18-year-old Xavier Meza reveals why Gen Z is questioning mainstream politics! In this raw and unfiltered episode, a young conservative shares his journey from Democratic household to America First advocate, exposing the generational divide on patriotism and national identity.

Through candid perspective-sharing, Xavier breaks down why some young voters are drawn to Trump's message despite the controversy.

This eye-opening episode explores:

• How Gen Z forms political views in the age of social media
• The growing disconnect between young people and traditional patriotism
• Why some teens are pushing back against progressive politics
• Real concerns about America's future from an 18-year-old's view
• The journey from family political views to independent thinking
• How social media and podcasts shape youth political engagement

Perfect for: Students interested in politics, teens developing their own views, young people questioning mainstream narratives, and the parents, teachers, and counselors trying to understand youth political perspectives. Plus: Essential insights into how the next generation of voters sees America's challenges and future.

Transcript

Welcome to Mindshift Power podcast, a show for teenagers and the adults who work with them, where we have raw and honest conversations. I'm your host, Fatima Bey, the mind shifter. And welcome, everyone. Today, we have with us Xavier Meza, and he is from Chicago, Illinois. He's 18.

And you saw the cover of this episode, so you know what it's about. And just as an FYI, this is being recorded in September 2024. Things are moving so fast. Who knows what it'll be like when you listen and listen in the future? So today's a little bit different because today, you are not here to give your opinion.

We're not looking for your opinion. You're actually here to listen to one. So I think it's very important that we listen to all voices, not just the ones that we agree with. And Xavier does represent a portion of our society and our future. So whether we like what he has to say or not, whether we agree or not or totally agree, we need to hear what our youth are thinking because they're our future.

So how are you doing today, Xavier? Doing great. How are you? I'm good. I'm looking forward to this conversation.

So as in a normal Fatima fashion, I like to dive right in. So why the hell are you voting for Trump? Okay. So the first thing I wanna say is I'm not an expert at all politically. I just I hear things, I see things, and I understand things.

Mhmm. And that's kind of what overall led to my conclusion. So I guess I would say the first thing is that I'm an America First kind of guy. So when I think of who I wanna vote for or kind of policies or anything like that, the first thing I'm thinking is, what's the best thing for America? I'm not usually thinking about myself as much because while I do think yeah.

I mean, I probably should think for myself, but I the most of the time, I'm thinking for America. So when I think policies wise, I just think right now, really, the the main things that I'm more worried about is foreign foreign affairs. So, like, World War three, potentially Mhmm. The economy and the border. So right now, it's just with World War three is really fast coming, especially with Putin, Russia, Russia, Ukraine.

I don't know much about Israel, pal Palestine, but Mhmm. I know that those tensions have been very high, especially recently. The economy I mean, I remember in 2016, '20 '20 when gas prices were really low, and then all of a sudden, they're, like, double three times that much. And then just the border, I mean look. I don't have a problem with with immigrants and people wanting to come to America for a better future.

I don't have a problem with that. It's just you have to come legally, and you have to come under the law because we can't have people that just come undocumented or unvetted, and they're coming into the coming into the country. I mean, that's what makes us a country is because we have these laws that we all decide to ground as a constitution. So those are just kinda the main three things where I'm just like, okay. I think I agree with Trump's policies more than, Kamala's, and that's kind of just my perspective on it.

So what I'm hearing is that it's your perception of the policies that, that draw you into voting for Trump. Yeah. It's just, yeah, it's just the realistic kind of standpoint. I just you know, there's there's also a couple other things. Like what?

I definitely don't agree. I don't I don't I suppose you don't agree with him on everything. For example, I know he wants to legalize weed and and marijuana in a lot of places. I don't I don't agree with that. But, I mean, if we we have to look one on one and, like, who do who do I agree with more and more, it's gonna be Trump in my opinion.

Okay. If there were a different person in that position, who was our our nominee, who was just on the Republican side, would you still feel the same way? That depends that depends on the person. It it really it really does matter. It really does, matter who it is.

I mean, when I think of Trump I mean, I've seen it I've watched a couple of his rallies. I've also watched a couple of couple of Kamala's rallies. I just see him as a genuine person. You know? He's goes up.

There was I remember seeing there was a rally where somebody fainted and and, I think it was just because of the heat or something, and he just went and gave him a hug and asked if they were all all okay. I mean, I think everyone likes to point to, the assassination attempt and when he got up and said fight. That's that's powerful, and that's something that it takes a really strong person to do that, and I think that's someone that really needs to represent this country, especially now. Okay. Do let's go back to something you said earlier.

You said you're an America First person. Yeah. Why? Well, it's the country I live in. I think and it's actually it's actually a problem I have.

I hear a lot of people I talk to, they they don't really care about, like, the country that much. You know? I remember seeing, I know RFK Jr said something about how, like, there's a very small percentage of Americans that are proud to be an American now compared to, like, fifty years ago Mhmm. Where it was much higher. And the fact that you live in your own country and you're not even proud to be in there, you're not even proud to of what it stands for or anything like that, and you live there, and you just have no care for it or anything like that, I just I find that really dismember, and I just don't it's it's hard to watch, and it's hard to listen to when other people say stuff like that.

So it's like think it is? Why do I think it's hard? What do you what do we think why do you think a lot of people feel that way? That they don't I have I could would say maybe it's a lack of just, I guess, overall, maybe understanding of, like, what it really means to be an American. You know?

I think I've also think you know, people mentioned the American dream and, like, what it like, the white picket fence, the house, and stuff like that. I think we've kind of lost that over the years as well. Mhmm. There's a lot of people that agree with you on that. Yeah.

And I think when you lose that and then you kind of lose we kinda lose the identity of America too, like, being an American. You know? I guess, I wouldn't call it a stereotype, but just the things that, you know, you're used to seeing what it means to be an American, that's those things have kind of diminished over time. And I think that's kind of probably the greatest reason why people don't, I guess, feel proud. And they also just everybody lives a different lifestyle.

You know, we're all culture culturally diverse, which is which isn't a bad thing. I'm just saying when it comes to living in a country, you know, I would say you should you should be proud of it, and you should be willing to, be a part of it and contribute to it. So you think that people in Kenya should be proud of being Kenyan? I'm just picking a random country. I mean I mean, yeah.

If you're willing to live if you're willing to live in a country I mean, especially now that we live in where you can move anywhere you want to. If you truly believe in a country, that's the country you should live in, and you should wanna live there. I don't have a I don't have an issue with that. I don't know. If, I mean, if somebody's Kenyan and they wanna live in Kenya, they should be proud to to be there.

If you're not proud to be there, then why do you wanna be there then so much? I mean I mean, yeah, it could be, like, an economic thing or, like, maybe you have money issues or something. But, I mean, I would argue if you wanna live somewhere, you should live there. And that's what I'd say. Okay.

Do you feel, that many of your peers agree with you on patriotism? Oof. No. Not really, honestly. I actually I I talk I talk a lot about, patriotism.

Sometimes sometimes maybe I'm, like, making a joke. Not not about it specifically, but, you know, some whenever I talk about it with friends or something, usually, the the biggest thing they say is, like, they're not like, they don't really care about politics, which I always find a little weird because politics, in my opinion, affects everyone. It does. Mhmm. Yeah.

I feel like no matter what you do, politics does affect you, which is why I feel like people should care for it. But, yeah, when it comes to patriotism, especially in my generation, I really don't think a lot of people really feel. I wanna ask you a little bit about how you grew up because I think how you grew up may inform may, form some of your opinions as well. I think that's true for all of us regardless of what we what side of the fence we're on. Mhmm.

Did you grow up in a household where politics was talked about? No. Honestly, yeah. We didn't we didn't really care about politics. It kind of came when I went to in my junior year of high school.

I started, I guess I started, like, watching more podcasts. I started, exercising more. I started doing I started, like everything kinda started changing around my junior year. Mhmm. I guess I would start to say I started to be awakened to, like, what the world is around me until, like, hey.

You're becoming an adult. Yeah. That's true. I think that's kind of when I was really starting to get interested. I was like, okay.

So this is what's going on in the world in the world. I also started taking a politics class, and, you know, I was learning a little bit little bit of stuff like that. But, no, we never really we never really talked about politics. In fact, I, I used to be I would argue I used to be democratic or I used to be on that side because, I mean, that was my whole family, and that was everything I ever heard. Mhmm.

This might this might sound weird, but it almost it almost felt like whenever, you mentioned Republicans or even Trump around, like, 2016 or 2015, it was more like that was, like, kind of, like, the evil side. Mhmm. And that was kinda, like, the bad guy. And that's how that's how it felt. And that's and at the time, I agreed with that, until I started, you know, doing my own research, looking into things on my own.

And then, eventually, over time, I just changed my mind. And I was like, okay. You know what? Maybe I do align with these views a little bit more. So, but research did you do?

It was just it was just so most of the time when I was getting information, it was from people, so people around me. Okay. You know? When I was doing, like, own research, it would either be for my politics class. It would be a lot of looking for, like, news articles and stuff like that.

Obviously, there's media bias, so there's always it's almost the same thing as when people are talking to me and, at the time with more, like, democratic values and stuff like that. Mhmm. So when, I guess my own research was kind of just, like, really it all started when I was decide okay. Maybe I should look at the other side too. Mhmm.

Because right now, I was living in a minds back then, I was living in a mindset where I was like, okay. This is who I align with. But then it was like, okay. Well, you if you don't even know what the other side aligns with, how can you align with your own side? But without knowing about the other side is the kind of thing I'd wanna really preface, if that makes sense.

So, like make sense, actually. Yeah. Just understand just understanding both sides is kind of nothing, and then making a decision from there instead of only knowing one. Right. I I I would agree with you on that point.

Regardless of where you where anybody stands, it's pretty ignorant to just go with the flow of what you've what you've only heard for one side. Mhmm. So with, when it comes to immigration, I have another question for you. How many immigrants have you actually known? A couple.

I'm not gonna name names, but No. You're not they're they're good people. And, like, seriously, like, I I don't think there's a similar immigrant I've met where I thought, like, oh, I'd like, I wouldn't say something stupid. Like, oh, I don't want this person to be here. Like, I I think that's close minded.

But Mhmm. There's a couple. And I know and they're they're they're just, like, you know, our average our average people I talk to. You know, they're great people. They have their own experiences, obviously.

I don't have a problem with them at all. There's one in specific I could think of. He actually I remember he got his, I guess, his I I'm not I'm not an expert, but I guess he got his green card or something. And I remember he showed me how excited he was. And Well, that is a big deal when they get that.

Yeah. And he was and, you know, that was good for me to see. I was like, wow. You know, he really, he almost seemed more like American loving than most of the people that who were born here. I can tell you, having worked with a lot of foreigners.

I worked with a ref a local refugee group for a while. In fact, I used to hire from there. They're just working with a lot of foreigners. Getting a green card is a big deal, and you are 1000% right. Many of the foreigners who come here and are able to get a green card and eventually able to become a citizen, they know more American history than the average American, and they're prouder to be an American than most of us.

You are I will say that you're a % right on it. Yeah. Because they had to go through more to get it. We're just spoiled brats who were born into it. You know?

So Yeah. So, yeah, you're definitely right about that. Now I wanna ask you, about your, about your perspective a little bit more. So where do you see this country in ten years? So I wanna also mention to the audience, I meant to say it's the beginnings in the beginning.

Xavier is 18. He just graduated from high school a few months ago, but he's 18, so he can vote. And his vote matters because it you know, every single vote matters, actually. So what what what do you see where do you see this country in ten years? Oh, well, I mean, that depends on that depends on who wins.

Mhmm. Are you ask are you also asking who I think would win? And then No. Not anymore. Just in general where you see our culture going, where you see the country headed.

Culture going. You can you can tell me the answers for both candidates if you want. Okay. I'll start with under if I I think if Kamala Harris goes is becomes president, I think most of her policies are pretty much the same as what we've already seen the past four years. Mhmm.

She doesn't really plan on changing that much, if any. So I don't I think there's just gonna be a lot of I mean, let's start with, like, the BLM riots. There's been there's been a lot of protests where there's been a lot of, like, looting and criminal activity and stuff like that. I know crime has also been raised. I think it was, like, 20 to 30%, somewhere around there.

So I really I really don't think it's going to go in a good direction. I do think we'll end up in World War three because I don't think Kamala's willing to talk and do the hard the hard talking to big leaders in the world. I mean, she won't even go to an interview for somebody that doesn't agree with her standpoints. So I don't think I think that's important too because, you know, if you're the president of the best country in the world, in my opinion, You have to be able to do the hard talks and be able to defend the nation, and I don't think she's capable of doing that. So I would I would argue we would end up in World War three.

What else? Either if we keep having the border that's just wide open, especially now, I think Mhmm. It's going it's just there's so many criminals that are coming in. There's people from jails coming in from multiple countries, not just, like, South America, but even across, the continents. And if that keeps happening, crime's just gonna go through the through the roof.

It's almost gonna seem like an anarchy. What about the economy? The yeah. I mean, it would just I don't think she's capable of fixing it. I know now they're trying to do, they're trying to to lower gas prices.

I'm not gonna speak on, like, if it's, like, a political move or something. But I guess with the with the economy, I I don't see it going down either. I mean, I don't she hasn't said anything about the she hasn't said anything about all she said is, like, doing tax cuts for the rich. And, personally, I don't think that's ever gonna work, and I just don't I don't think she has anything new that's going to work that is really going to, affect the prices, especially now, which is just so high. And, yeah, I I don't see anything good for the future of, the Kamala Harris administration, but I know, with Trump, I know immediately he said his first, his first day ones were to he said in his words, drill baby drill, which is just more fracking, and then, to seal the border, which is definitely really important.

I know he plan he plans on working more for energy for for the economy because energy revolves around every everything. And he mentions, like, using oil a lot and that how The US has more oil than most of the than any country in the world, which is definitely really important. And I know I know personally I mean, Trump was the only president, I think, since, like, February that they didn't start any wars or get The US into any new wars. Mhmm. I know he was he's he talks a lot about how he was able to connect with the, world leaders, which some people think is a bad thing, but I would argue it's a good thing, that he was able that he's able to connect with world leaders and, like, shit and, like, be friendly, but at the same time, say, like, hey.

We're stronger than you. And if anything happens, we're, you know, we're willing to do something about it. And I think that's why what made him such a good president because he was, he was willing to be the strong leader that we needed, and it didn't cause any wars because of it. And I think under the administration we have now, they weren't willing to do, they weren't willing to do any of the big talks and anything like that, and they just let Russia invade Ukraine and, these war all these wars that are going on that people in America are protesting about all the time. So it's just yeah.

I would argue under Trump, it would be more of an up uphill with with America where as our current administration, I don't think it would go well for America. And what about the economy if if Trump wins? When it's well, again, like, using energy. Because energy revolves around anything. When there's when there's, when there's good energy and low in the energy prices, so for example, the electricity or anything or even with bills and, gas and the houses, the fact that he's willing willing to lower those by using America American, like like, producing oil in America, it definitely helps the economy.

And then just, like, thinking about how the economy was from 2016, '20 '20, and then 2020 to 2024. I mean, I just I remember gas being, like, $2 to $2.50. And now I'm going outside, and it's, like, $3.30 and $3.70. And then there's, like, inflation's the whole thing again, and that's just from reckless spending. I mean, we could talk about how much money that, the Biden administration spent on for Ukraine when I think we can all agree that that money should have went to us, and there's definitely a lot of problems that we definitely need fixing.

So things like that too. I I do think the economy would be be better under Trump, though. Okay. What do you see? Again, we're talking about the future.

Yep. How do you feel like the people that are in your generation right now who are in your age range, which I will say is 17 to 25, just to make it that narrow. How do you see them running politics in ten years? Or or even twenty years, because maybe I should say a longer time span, but just in the future. It's a really good question.

I mean, it all is just it all has to be about kind of how they obtain information and then use that to their own perspective during that time. I think it's just, I guess, it's a it's a difficult question. Yes. I mean, there's definitely, everybody has their own perspective, but I do think, you know, in my generation, there's I'm pretty sure there's, like, there's some chart or something somewhere where people are generally, in my generation, becoming more Republican. I think especially yeah.

That's what I've heard. At least a little bit. Like, not like, nothing drastic, but a little bit, I think. And I'm the more, the question where I'm facing is, like, it would that stay for a while? Because, I mean, again, if Trump wins, you know, it depends on what he does in his four years.

If Kamala wins, it depends on what she does in her four years and what people tend to agree with. I guess, regarding the future, I think it's just it kinda it kinda just depends what happens around us and, like, what really what people really think is going to happen. I mean, if we're in World War three and stuff like that, people tend to become more, like, traditional, more conservative when things are, like, really hard around us. But when everything's easy and there's nothing going on, usually, I would argue people are more democratic, more liberal. It's that kind of thing, but also just how how they learn and what they come up with.

I think politics is also just itself is becoming more I wouldn't say more of a joke, but, I mean, like, if you look at the debates, they just I remember when people use when Obama and, I think his name was Mitt Romney. Mhmm. And the debates, they used to shake hands before and, you know, they would they would Right. Like, they would, obviously, they would talk bad on each other because well, they're debating, but, I mean, there was still, like, respect there. Yeah.

That would be that would also be, like, my biggest critique of or one of one of my critiques of Trump is how there's a little lack of there's a lack of respect for the people around him. And, you know, even though I know he's he's talking bad on Biden and Kamala for his campaign, but you I mean, they're also still the president. Biden's still the president of The United States. I mean, there's still you know, if if it was me, I would still try and show at least a little respect. But, yeah.

But I don't know. It's a it's a shaky future. It's just it all depends on what happens, I guess, in the next, couple years and how the world around us is. Okay. What advice do you have for or what comments do you have for youth, people around your age group right now?

Comments. I would say the first biggest thing is to make sure that the information that you receive is two sided. So make sure you're receiving both perspectives because, I mean, while I may while I may consider one side, I'm not gonna tell somebody not to, not to vote for the other side or anything like that. I'm just gonna say what I think, and then if they wanna listen to me, they can. I would just make sure you're looking at both sides instead of only looking at one.

I think that's just the most crucial because that's where, at that point, you're using your own brain instead of using other people's to make your own decision, and which I also think is a little bit of loss because I think a lot of people are thinking for other people instead of for themselves. Mhmm. So that'd be my first comment. I was gonna ask you what your advice is for adults, but I think the same thing applies. Yeah.

And then we're just following through following the Yeah. I mean, adults would just be like, listen to maybe listen to our generation more of what we're saying. Mhmm. I definitely think there's some things that us kids are going through right now that especially at, like, the age of 18 and, like, trying to afford college or something like that is Yeah. Really important really important or basically trying to make enough money to make it somewhere now is definitely something important.

So maybe, like, advice like that. It's different for you than it was for us for sure. Yeah. Stuff like that. One more question.

Okay. Since it has already happened twice, what would it look like if Trump were really assassinated? In my opinion Mhmm. I I think there's a lot of Trump supporters that are very, very into Trump and very, I guess I wouldn't say hard headed, but they're definitely, like, big supporters. I do think there would be some kind of there would definitely be riots everywhere.

If it's already happened two times and it happens again, I think people would there's just so much there's so much already, like, going on with how much people, have been try I've they've they've already been like, they've seen they've seen it happen almost twice, and there's so much build to that. So I think I think if it happened, it would truly be some kind of form of, anarchy or something like that. Because then we would almost be forced with to have Kamala Harris. I don't think anybody else would be able to run and beat her at that point. Yeah.

And at that point, you're taking away a choice, from from a lot of Americans who do feel very strongly about their political views. So I do think, like, a lot of bad things will happen. I think people would be running on the streets, I think. Do you think that many of those people would be your age? Would they be Probably not.

Okay. Probably not. I think there would be older people, people a little bit older. But maybe I mean, because, again, I don't think my generation doesn't really think about politics that much. At least, that's not their biggest focus right now.

Mhmm. I think it's when you graduate college or when you really joined the workforce. It's kind of like, okay. Well, now I'm starting to realize what's going on around me. You know?

Maybe you're going to grocery the grocery store and the gas and the prices are too high or trying to get gas and prices are too high and stuff like that. I think at that point is when you start to realize politics more, but I think now, people might just don't really think that much. So they would probably, they'd probably be scared, my generation, because they probably wouldn't know exactly what's going on. Mhmm. Because not a lot of information like that gets to us.

But, yeah, I just I don't I don't I think there'd be a lot of tyranny, for sure if Trump did get assassinated. Unfortunately, I think you're right. Yeah. Not for good reasons, but I I think you're right. Mhmm.

Well, Xavier, thank you for coming on and and, letting us know what you think. And I'm hoping that audience that you were able to hear an 18 year old in America right now. And while Xavier does not represent every 18 year old, of course, he does represent a portion of our society that whether we like it or not, they exist, and we should listen because they're they're a part of us too. So, again, thank you, Xavier. Of course.

Of course. Thanks for having me. And now for a mind shifting moment. I wanna bring you back to something that Xavier said in the episode today. It's important that you get your information, whether you're voting for Harris or Trump or putting in Mickey Mouse on the ballot.

Wherever you are, it is very important that we get our information from multiple sources and not just people who think like us. When you do this, you become very biased and very ignorant, quite frankly, and very easily manipulated. It is best to get your information from multiple sources and then come to your own conclusion, whatever that may be for you. So just consider, what are your news sources? What are your resources of information that you take on and believe?

I really want you to question that regardless of what your political views are. Thank you for listening to Mindshift Power podcast. Please like and subscribe to my YouTube channel at the mind shifter. If you have any comments, topic suggestions, or would like to be a guest on the show, please visit FatimaBay.com/podcast. Remember, there's power in shifting your thinking.

Tune in for next week.