Donald Trump supporters in New York are rare birds—at least that's what it may seem like in a city where sympathizing at all with the new president-elect is seen by many as controversail—and by some as a form of social suicide. In Manhattan, Hillary Clinton got 88 percent of the vote; Donald Trump less than 10 percent. Across the five boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx, Trump received atotal of 461,174 thumbs-ups. Although that number was dwarfed by Hillary Clinton's nearly 2 million votes, it isn't negligible, and the percentage of Trump supporters increases when you venture outside the city into suburban neighborhoods in Connecticut and Westchester.
So where have the Trump supporters been hiding? In plain sight, though many are reluctant—even though their candidate won—to declare their loyalty in public for fear that they will ostracize themselves. "I don't want any death threats," says one Trump supporter who asked for anonymity so as not to tarnish his image. Of the four Trump supporters Town & Country spoke with below—all men—only one chose to use his name.
JOCK SPIVY, ADVISOR TO OPTIX GROUP, A DATA SCIENCE COMPANY, 64
First off, what's it been like as a Trump supporter in New York for the past few months? Did you feel like you had to bite your tongue?
Yes.
Were there any instances in which you were made to feel uncomfortable?
No, but that was partially because I didn't put myself in situations where I would let that happen. So it's a matter of self-censorship. Mostly what I was finding was an awful lot of people were just sort of avoiding this stuff altogether.
Do you know a decent number of Trump supporters in New York?
Yes.
And do you have a secret club?
Well, if it's a secret, why would I tell you?
What do you like most about Trump?
I started out in the first instance disliking both the Republicans and the Democrats intensely, after a long time of being around both of them and also having seen New York state republicans in action. And I'm not alone in this from what I can tell: If Trump hadn't been there, I probably would have supported Bernie Sanders as being the other "let's blow this thing up from the foundations" guy. I've been a registered Republican forever, but I have not always voted for Republicans by any means. So I liked [Trump] from that outsider matter.
Matthew Kassel has written for The New York Times Magazine and The Wall Street Journal.
