Philip Manns stayed up until 2 a.m. watching the election returns on TV on Tuesday, pleasantly surprised by now President-elect Donald Trump’s performance Election Day.
“I was watching all night, and I was just surprised he was doing so well,” said Manns, 81, of Hempfield. “I think the pollsters all had it wrong because they said it was going to be tight, and it’s certainly not tight.”
Manns cast his vote for the Republican nominee Tuesday. He said he feels Trump’s financial and immigration policies will serve the country well.
“I’m overjoyed for my kids,” he said. “The economy will be back in. We won’t have the border crisis.”
‘I’m just disgusted’
Ginny Hall also was shocked by the election results — but from the opposite side of the aisle.
“I really thought Harris would get it. I really did,” said Hall, 66, of Jeannette.
“I mean, this man has threatened people. He’s called people names. He’s very vengeful. Who wants a person like that in office?”
Hall raised concerns about Trump’s criminal record.
“I can’t believe a felon who’s been convicted of 34 counts is going to be our next president,” she said. “Really? I mean, I’d be sitting in jail. I’m just disgusted.”
Hall also is worried about Trump’s economic plan.
“He’s talking about cutting Social Security. I live on Social Security,” she said. “He has no idea about health plans.”
‘She wasn’t ready to be president’
Bob Klein, on the other hand, thinks Trump will boost the economy.
“I think he can make a good commander for the military, and his financial (plan) — if he gets it down straight — he’s going to straighten out the government with all this wasteful spending,” said Klein, 73, of Hempfield.
Klein said he feels Vice President Kamala Harris was too weak a candidate for the Democratic Party.
“I couldn’t vote for that woman,” he said. “She couldn’t answer any questions. She would never tell you what she was going to do. She flip-flops all the time.”
Bob Cieszynski agreed Harris’ policies were not well developed or communicated to the public.
“She wasn’t ready to be president,” said Cieszynski, 75, of Natrona Heights. “She didn’t have experience. She didn’t do her job as vice president.”
He felt more comfortable voting for Trump after having experienced him as president from 2016 to 2020.
“We know what he did the first four years,” Cieszynski said. “He’ll probably do the same if not more the second four years.”
‘I just think he’s going to do a better job’
Cieszynski said he has high hopes for Trump’s promises to support the fracking industry. He also believes Trump will help lower energy costs and gas prices.
“I’m sure he’ll get the energy costs down, which will affect all of us,” Cieszynski said. “I just think he’s going to do a better job.”
Jim Callender, 50, of Tarentum was happy when he heard Trump won the 2024 presidential election.
He has faith in his plan for the country’s economy and immigration.
“It’s hard to change things in four years, but you have to start somewhere,” Callender said. “If you don’t start somewhere, you can’t change.”
In his opinion, the country is spending too much money on foreign affairs.
“We can’t be spending money that we can help our own with,” he said. “You can’t give CPR to someone else if you’re already dying.”