A polling station in Yorba Linda, California, during the US presidential election, November 3, 2020. -

P.BERRY / 20 MINUTES

  • As America is voting, our correspondent in the United States went to take the temperature in Yorba Linda, California.

  • In this Republican stronghold, the American president seems more popular than ever.

  • Despite the coronavirus, voters believe he has "kept his promises."

From our correspondent in the United States,

It is the stronghold of Richard Nixon.

While Orange County turned Democratic in 2016 for the first time since 1936, Yorba Linda, where Nixon was born, had voted Donald Trump against Hillary Clinton by a margin of more than 20 points.

Four years and a pandemic later, enthusiasm does not appear to have faded this Tuesday, as America heads to the polls.

Scott, a former military man, voted for Donald Trump, as in 2016, and “didn't hesitate for a second”: “He kept his promises and put the Americans first.

On employment and taxes, my situation improved during his mandate, ”he assures behind his mask.

He is not the only one.

Of 15 people who responded to

20 Minutes

, twelve chose the US president, two Joe Biden, and Lindsey, who leaned Democrat, voted white.

“I liked Pete Buttigieg, who is centrist.

But Joe Biden was pushed to the left by the primary against Bernie Sanders, ”she said.

This executive is also angry at the restrictions imposed by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom: “My son's school is still closed.

It's hard to telecommute from home.

Schools must be reopened, even Europe has done so.

"

"Fear of socialism and communism"

Donald Trump's attacks on Bien and “radical Democrats” seem to have resonated with voters.

Born in Romania, Linda confides “having seen the ravages of communism” under Ceausescu.

According to her, "progressives have good intentions" but she places "individual freedoms above all else.

Aurea, who fled Cuba with her parents when she was 7 in 1963, nods and says she is "more afraid of socialism than of the Covid".

Kevin and Lucy, a nursing couple, believe that Donald Trump "should have taken the pandemic more seriously at the very beginning".

But despite a death toll that exceeds 230,000 deaths in the United States, they voted for the American president, as in 2016. “The reality is that each country is helpless in the face of Covid-19.

Watch Europe hit by a second monster wave.

Political leaders are doing what they can.

"

"I voted for Biden for the future of my children"

We must put this apparent plebiscite of Donald Trump into perspective.

This is a tiny sample, and more than 12 million Californians have already voted in an early vote that should favor Democrats.

But among Republicans, Trump fervor doesn't seem to be waning.

To find support for Joe Biden on Tuesday, we have to look to younger voters.

John, a 22-year-old economics student, chose the Democratic candidate as a "lesser evil."

"I'm rather centrist, but for me, it's anything but Trump, especially on the fight against climate change."

Raina, who holds an 18-month-old baby boy in her arms, says she "voted for Biden for [her] children's future."

"Before concluding:" If Donald Trump is re-elected for four years, I fear for our democracy.

"

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