Commentary: I am a Mexican American who voted for Trump. No, I don't hate myself

I’m a proud, first-generation, college-educated and gay Mexican American with undocumented family in the United States, including a mother who was previously deported to Mexico, and I experienced homelessness as a child. I am everything Democrats claim to support, right?

Wrong.

Democrats have accepted a progressive platform, ignoring decades worth of change and focusing on erroneous issues. They have built campaigns on a foundation of misleading airs and fake vibes.

Voting for Donald Trump does not make me racist, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic or any other “ist” and “ic” I’ve been called. I, along with more than half of the voting public in America, am sick of the self-righteous and label-obsessed left alienating us over differing opinions.

In her concession speech, Vice President Kamala Harris claimed to have built strong coalitions. What she did was the opposite. She did not motivate enough Black voters, Latino voters, Asian voters, Jewish voters, union voters and female voters to cast their ballots for her. Fewer women voted for Harris than they did Joe Biden, even with abortion being a top issue. To the very end, Harris ignored the data; she ignored what voters needed.

The party spent the last four years demonizing men and blaming us for all of society’s ills. Then they spent several months drinking beer, releasing camo hats and attempting to “love” guns to desperately win our votes. Former President Barack Obama noticed Black men were not falling in line, so he resorted to shaming his “brothers,” essentially saying they were sexist, even though Black men supported Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Which leads us to Latinos. Democrats, we are not Latinx or Latine; we are Latinos and Latinas. Stop trying to change our language and our culture. The Biden-Harris administration’s disastrous handling of the southern border was one of the major issues for most Americans. Americans in Chicago and around the U.S. watched how veterans and other homeless and needy citizens suffered as local governments spent billions for newly arrived migrants. Americans saw Trump secure the border without any congressional approval.

Seeing my undocumented family members, who have been in the U.S. for more than 20 years, work, pay taxes and buy their own homes with zero benefits, then watching millions of new migrants skip the line with government-funded help, only inflamed me and other Latinos like me. When my mother came to America as a single mother of two, she did not get any benefits. This election became personal. It was about my family!

My concerns go beyond just immigration. I am a U.S.-born Mexican American. We are the youngest demographic in the U.S. What matters to me and many Latinos like me are obtaining jobs, paying for the costs of living, buying a home, growing and helping our families, and making sure the American Dream is attainable and still alive. Over the last four years, all of that has become harder. If you think it hasn’t or haven’t felt it, consider yourself blessed. This situation clearly upset many other Latinos who broke from generational loyalty to Democrats.

It was also rich to have Democratic leaders such as Michele Obama, whose personal worth is reportedly tens of millions, say that rich people take more than their fair share. She was sandwiched between billionaires Gov. JB Pritzker and Oprah Winfrey at the DNC in Chicago. Pritzker even taunted Trump on not being a “real billionaire,” which was extremely unrelatable. Billionaire Mark Cuban also hit the campaign trail for Harris. Billionaire and megastar Taylor Swift, who endorsed Harris, at least gracefully encouraged everyone to do their own research, which I highly respect. Compare that to the Republican National Convention, where Trump had everyday people speak about experiences most of us worry about — the cost of groceries, safety, jobs and the border crisis.

Democrats, please look into your hearts again. Your progressive policies are crumbling your own base. Even in Chicago, Trump gained ground in Latino wards, and he lost in Illinois by only 9 percentage points. Chicago and Illinois are supposed to be a deeply blue city and state, respectively. This was a message to Democrats; they need to listen.

In a recent news conference in response to the election, Pritzker told Trump, “You come for my people, you come through me.” Governor, switch that energy to the criminals who are holding up Illinoisans at gunpoint, committing smash-and-grab robberies, stealing cars in record numbers, and committing homicides, home invasions, theft and more. Where has this protection been over the last four years?

If Pritzker doesn’t change his messaging, he will not fare well in any other political aspirations he may have.

I am very proud to be a Christian, gay Mexican American who voted for Trump. No, I don’t hate myself. With Republicans about to sweep the White House, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House after obtaining a conservative majority on the Supreme Court, Democrats desperately need to answer the 2 a.m. wakeup call Clinton never answered. The political pendulum will swing toward Democrats again. It’s inevitable. Single-party rule is never ideal for America. We love compromise, and we need compromise.

This election, voters canceled the wokeism of the extreme left. As of now, the person who is taking care of us, listening to us — the regular folks — where we can see and feel it, is the soon-to-be 47th president of the United States, Donald Trump.

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J. Marcos Peterson is a Chicagoland native, a Latino of Mexican descent and an LGBTQ+ leader. His career, from public to private sectors, is defined by his commitment to impactful change across industries through strategic and positive influence.

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