“If Trump is elected, perfect. If he is not elected, then the fight will be at the state level”, his confident French supporters

Interview: who, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, will win the American presidential elections which take place today, November 5, 2024? For the “Republicans Overseas” association, which brings together American supporters of the candidate, the victory of their champion is beyond doubt. Interview with Vanessa Biard-Schaeffer, based in Toulouse and vice-president of the association.

Vanessa Biard-Schaeffer is French-American. Aged 48, she was born in Paris to an American father and a French mother. She voted by mail. This real estate expert now based in Toulouse is the vice-president of the “Republicans Overseas” association, the branch of the Republicans abroad, which brings together around a hundred people (around thirty members and nearly 70 supporters). On this American presidential election day, she believes in the Republican candidate's chances of victory. Interview.

France 3: What state of mind are you in on this American presidential election day?

Vanessa Biard-Schaeffer: I am particularly calm. I decided for the first time since the last two elections to sleep tonight, that is to say not to pull a sleepless night and to be fresh and ready the next day to see the results, because I cannot don't think we'll get them right away. I hope that Trump, indeed, is elected. But if Kamala Harris is elected, for me anyway, the fight will be fought at the local level, in the American states. This will allow Americans to remain autonomous and not fall into this technocracy that the current Democratic clan is preparing for us.

France 3: Why did you decide to vote for Donald Trump?

Vanessa Biard-Schaeffer: The first thing is that he is a businessman who knows business and economics. The second thing is that he opened the door to very different and diverse profiles of society, notably Robert Kennedy. And third, I hope he will quickly end the conflict in Ukraine. So these three pillars, for me, are essential. They make me think that Trump is the best candidate, the best president we could have.

France 3: Does Trump's assumed proximity to Putin worry you?

Vanessa Biard-Schaeffer: The propaganda in front wants to make Trump look like an agent of Putin, it's laughable. That Trump knows Putin is normal since he was already president of the United States and therefore he met him. And when we see Trump's family profile and education, who notably attended military school, we cannot seriously think that Trump is friends with Putin. Trump will discuss with Putin as an equal, that's all. That's normal, it's normally done at the diplomatic level.

France 3: The right to abortion is one of the issues of this campaign. A theme that attracts Donald Trump a lot of criticism from certain women, because they believe that he has rolled back this right. What do you think?

Vanessa Biard-Schaeffer: This is not the main concern of the American population, and especially American women. This is the main subject of concern for propagandists, some of whom are democrats, and the French left. I think first of the pain these women must be going through. Afterwards, there is a constitution which says very clearly that this right is not devolved to the federal State but that it remains the competence of the independent States, independently of the federal State. There is no progress or retreat. So it is a regulation which is already in the Constitution and which has been applied for subjects other than abortion, particularly environmental ones.

An American woman who has children, she wants to be able to feed her children, she wants to send them to school, she wants them to be healthy. I find it indecent to make this a political debate.

France 3: Another campaign subject, illegal immigration. Some accuse Donald Trump of playing on Americans' fears…

Vanessa Biard-Schaeffer: We must be against illegal immigration. This question is also among the three main points of Trump's program. And right now, given the number of people crossing the border illegally, it shows that the federal government is not doing its job. These are not nice people who want to come to work. We have all the gangs in Mexico and major trafficking networks, drug traffickers, child traffickers, human traffickers which are spreading across the territory. A population like that, which is not managed and which is not manageable, still poses obvious security problems. Stopping illegal immigration must be a priority. The border must not be a sieve.

France 3: Trump's opponents accuse him of playing a lot with fake news and of being excessive. How do you see that?

Vanessa Biard-Schaeffer: Trump is a showman, so he puts on a show. Both camps insult each other and accuse each other of fake news. I look at the numbers. We check the information and see what is true or false. A political speech is there to galvanize the troops, that has always been the case. And passing it off as fake news is still really bad faith.

France 3: Are you confident about your candidate?

Vanessa Biard-Schaeffer: A CNN analyst, a poll specialist, noted that the satisfaction rate of the Biden administration among the American population was 24%, and that at least 45 to 48% were needed for an outgoing candidate to be re-elected. . In other words, he saw very little chance of Kamala Harris being elected. Because she is part of the outgoing administration. So I'm rather confident for Trump. If Trump is elected, great. If he is not elected, then the fight will be at the state level. Because there will be a renewal of around ten governors.

Kamala Harris is the representative, at best, of a lobby or a clan.

Vanessa Biard-Schaeffer, vice-president of “Republicans Overseas”

France 3: What if Kamala Harris wins…?

Vanessa Biard-Schaeffer: Kamala Harris is the representative, at best, of a lobby or a clan. We can clearly see that she does not have the shoulders to assert herself in discussions which could still be quite complicated. So, it will have powers at the federal level but certain states will develop their independence and autonomy vis-à-vis the federal government. And others unfortunately will collapse because the federal government spends a lot, makes promises, but is not there when crises arise.