This Tuesday evening and Wednesday, many people from Tours will probably be in front of their television to watch the march of the world take place: the American presidential election. Among them, two feel particularly concerned. Lisa and Adam, two American citizens living in Tours, who do not know each other, tell us their feelings about this very special election.
The first question, the one that burns the lips, is the prognosis. For Lisa, 56, this is quite clear: “I’ve been watching the rallies of each of the candidates for a while, and clearly, we see more people in those of Donald Trump than of Kamala Harris. In my opinion it is Trump who will emerge victorious”. Adam, for his part, has much less certainty: “No one is going to win. We’ll be lucky if we know the winner in a week. And even there, there are armies of lawyers for each of the candidates to contest the result”.
A real worry about the future for this Texan who also lived in California. Even if Kamala Harris wins, that’s not the end of the story. “It’s very scary, it’s very scary if Trump is elected”confides Adam, 42 years old. “The idea of American democracy as we know it could disappear tomorrow, it is extremely worrying. Being the father of a daughter, I’m glad I’m not living in the USA at the moment.”
On the contrary, the Trumpist perspective does not worry Lisa, from Tours at heart. Arriving in France in 1995, she is amused by the stereotypes in her French entourage regarding the Republican candidate.
“Many French people have difficulty imagining the conception of the State for an American. Me coming from Iowa, California or Texas are very different states, the founding fathers wanted strong power at the state level, to avoid too much power at the federal level. And this is what Trump defends: more power at the local level, less state in the daily lives of citizens”
She adds that it is “the only American president who did not start a war”even though he explicitly threatened to do so against North Korea.
A point of view that Adam does not share. For him, there is a fundamental problem: “Almost no American can explain the electoral system, which allowed three presidents to be elected even though they had fewer votes than their opponent”. A democratic problem to which is added, according to him, the problematic profile of Trump voters:
“Much of the MAGA world (Make America Great Again, le slogan de Trump, ndlr) is based on xenophobia and racism. A second Trump term will be a starting signal for all kinds of abuses for many authoritarian regimes.”
Two opposing points of view, two different conceptions of society. A divide that is spreading everywhere, from the USA to France, from Tours to Washington. A worrying prospect that Adam concludes: “I will come across as a pessimist, whatever the result it will be a huge mess (huge mess)”. In a few days, Lisa and Adam will be determined about their future prospects.
