The internet offers a front-row seat to observe how everyone nowadays has an opinion and several individuals are unafraid to air theirs with conviction. A young Republican woman named Kassidy Reye did just that on her TikTok account. She cast her ballot during early voting and then came home to monologue on why she voted for Donald Trump.
You would think that, before going online to enumerate the reasons why you voted for a specific political candidate with the intent of prompting others to do the same, you’d be mindful to base your argument on logically elaborated, well-researched facts, but that’s not how it always works on social media and other online platforms.
Joe Hubbard’s TikTok bio unequivocally states the purpose of his platform: “An Informed Electorate Is My Only Goal.” With this goal in mind, and having come across Kassidy’s video, Joe decided it was his duty to hear the Republican’s reasons and then demonstrate why she’s both misinformed and misguided.
Make America Think Again
Kassidy Reye’s video begins with her filming herself going to the polling station to vote during her State’s early voting. Upon arriving home, she gets in front of the camera, proudly displaying her “I voted” sticker, and decides to be “very vocal and honest” about whom she voted for and why she voted for this candidate.
Kassidy proceeds to list four reasons why she voted for Donald Trump: the economy and inflation, the US-Mexico border and “migrant crime,” “keeping men out of women’s sports,” and lastly, Trump uniting the nation “under God.” To each of Kassidy’s points, Joe Hubbard has a fact-based refutation to offer, and he does so as amicably as one possibly could while walking someone through the steps of why their thought process is flawed.
Joe begins by thanking Kassidy for doing her civic duty – to her credit, Kassidy also starts off her tirade by telling people to vote. To her point about the economy being better under Trump, Joe proves how the former president merely inherited the economic recovery process kickstarted under the Obama administration. Kassidy’s point deflates its validity when she doesn’t bring to the table any economic policies enacted during Trump’s presidency that contributed to the economy being “way better.”
Kassidy’s argument about the “open border” is immediately shut down by Joe who, like many of us, has surely heard this conservative talking point being parroted to no end, but still details why the Right-wing “open border” narrative is a “myth.” The natural Republican thought progression from the “open border” fallacy is to point the finger at “illegals” for “bringing more crime, more drugs, more rapists, more murderers.” It is up to Joe to contradict Kassidy’s incendiary claims about what she believes is “factually proven” with the mention of not one, but multiple studies.
It’s barely worth addressing how Kassidy’s third reason has to do with trans women – whom she refers to as “men” – partaking in women’s sports. As Joe pragmatically brings up, “that is way down the line in terms of electing a president.” Furthermore, this is “more of an argument for electing Representatives.”
“Which God?” Is Joe’s immediate reaction to Kassidy’s wish for Trump to unite “the country as one nation under God.” Her assertion that the United States “was started on Christianity” warranted a bite-sized history lesson from Joe, as Kassidy’s point fully ignores how the Founding Fathers deliberately structured a federal government that was not ruled by religious principles but by secular ones.
Perhaps Kassidy’s worst opinion is that even if you’re not Christian, and what she’s saying doesn’t apply to you and your religious beliefs, she nevertheless thinks that it should. It’s “kinda scary,” as Joe points out. Unfortunately, it seems that, like Kassidy, many MAGA enthusiasts believe in freedom as long as that freedom aligns with their ideals.
If you’re going to preach your political views online to change people’s minds, you’ve also got to be prepared for someone else to come along, hear the flaws in your arguments, and subsequently deconstruct them in their own TikTok video.
