Miranda Blair didn’t vote for Donald Trump in 2016 because he scared her.
This week, she was wearing a bright red “Make America Great Again” hat as she waited in sub-freezing temperatures to hear him speak in Manchester, New Hampshire, as he rallied Republican voters to choose him as their nominee.
A lot happened in between to change Ms Blair’s thinking.
“Just a few years ago under Donald Trump, I felt like I could afford groceries and bring my girls skiing, and do all the things we wanted to do,” she said.
The 40-year-old sales manager voted for Barack Obama, a Democrat, in 2008 and found Mr Trump’s lack of political experience disqualifying in 2016 so didn’t vote.
But during Mr Trump’s presidency, she changed her views. And her financial struggles now, under a Joe Biden presidency, have cemented her support for Mr Trump.
“I’m a single mom of two young girls, and so life is really difficult right now, as far as the economy goes,” she said. Despite earning more money than ever, she feels she will never be able to buy a home and has never paid so much in rent.
Ms Blair’s evolution towards Mr Trump, spurred by the soaring cost of living in recent years, US involvement in new foreign conflicts and a belief that the Biden government has abandoned people like her, helps explain why the former president looks near certain to win the Republican presidential nomination.
In New Hampshire, the second state to choose its nominee, Mr Trump has opened a double-digit lead over former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, and his other big rival, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, has dropped out.
Read more at BBC.com
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