After a repentant Trump voter's one-man protest, what happened next?

[Judi Lynn]

David Smith
@smithinamerica

Sat 22 Aug 2020 02.00 EDT Last modified on Sat 22 Aug 2020 02.01 EDT

James Walker took a stand in March 2017 that provoked an overwhelming response online and also within his family

Regrets, he’s had a few, but then again, there’s one he’d like to mention.

James Walker voted for Donald Trump in 2016. That fateful decision, and a subsequent act of public of repentance, rippled through his family and friendships, his dating life, his career, where he makes his home and countless thousands of posts on social media.

Walker’s story is a parable of the times, a glimpse of how the Trump era has awakened ordinary citizens, who might otherwise sit on the sidelines as presidents come and go, and how the internet has become a turbocharged amplifier of division and hatred, healing and redemption.

It was March 2017 when Trump, still in the foothills of his presidency, held a rally in Nashville, Tennessee. As usual, there was a small group of protesters outside the venue, the Nashville Municipal Auditorium. Unmissable among them stood Walker wearing beard, sunglasses, black North Face jacket, khaki trousers. Most strikingly, he wore a red “Make America great again” (Maga) cap on his head and a sign in his hands that announced to the world: “I’ve made a huge mistake.”

As a picture it was worth a thousand tweets. It soon went viral on social media, featured on the Guardian and Reddit websites and was cited by the comedian Bill Maher on his HBO show Real Time. A Twitter post from this Guardian reporter that day has now accumulated 42,000 retweets and 82,000 likes. Among the earliest comments: “no worries man. Join the #resistance”; “Wow – James Walker – takes guts to do that – no matter who you voted for. Most people wouldn’t do that.”

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/22/repentant-trump-voter-protest-what-happened-next-james-walker

[onetexan]

1. Wow! I hope more MAGAts will be inspired by this man's courage and cross over to the light like he

Did

[SheltieLover]

2. Me too!

[Bucky]

3. As I get older I find myself growing impatient with this cinematic journalism style

I'm old and my time on Earth is limited. Give me those hard facts and the thesis of your editorial upfront. If the story is interesting, I'll read your flummery about what this ex Trump voter was doing on a Thursday afternoon in 2017. Don't think you're seducing me with your vague that changing political views changed his dating life, yet never telling me how it totally changed his life until the 20th paragraph. No, at this stage in life I like my journalism like I like my barbecues: give me the meat up front, and if I enjoy the conversation, I'll stick around for your grandmother's potato salad.

[denem]

5. 28 paragraphs down, we get to the meat

He joined the Black Lives Matter protests. The last paragraph - He is voting for Biden

[Roy Rolling]

7. Too Much Meat

Too much meat’ll kill you. Just sayin’.

Enjoy the whole meal, the context is what makes for a good quality of life.

[NBachers]

4. He seems like a thoughtful guy who reasons things out.

[empedocles]

8. Reason, and a story of hope, in a number of ways