Aimee Anderson, 23, works as a bartender at the Kanawha Lounge in Buckhannon, West Virginia. The television at the bar is always on Fox News and, as a Bernie Sanders supporter, Anderson described the election season as tense. Post inauguration Anderson said the atmosphere is quieter, “We still watch the news all day, but it’s not heated. It’s not angry. It’s much, much calmer.”
Anderson: I think he’s doing well. He hasn’t done anything wrong yet. He hasn’t. You have no choice— you have to be hopeful. It hasn’t been bad the first week or so — so I don’t think it will be.
He’s signing executive orders that should be in place. He’s starting somewhere. I think the abortion ban — it doesn’t do anything productive. He’s preventing safe abortions from happening. That’s the only one I don’t like, but the rest of them are fine. He sees what the nation is up against and he sees how he can fix it and that’s his first way.
I think right now healthcare and immigration are really important. Obamacare was not at all a perfect plan, so it needed to be reformed. I just hope he makes it a better system. You have to have healthcare. That’s a basic human right. Everyone should have healthcare whether you get it from a private institution or a government.
The Women’s March — maybe I don’t understand the exact reasons for the march. If it was about abortion and you are fighting for abortion to keep it there, fight for safe abortions, not government funded ones. But, if they are protesting Trump, then it’s too little to late. The campaign process went on for months and months and months — if you didn’t like him then and the thought of him being in office was terrifying — you should have done something then when you had the power.
Justin Hayhurst contributed to this coverage.
In ‘100 Days, 100 Voices’ Nancy Andrews presents photographs depicting the diversity of voices across Appalachia. These portraits strive to show the varied faces, passions, issues and opinions from around the region. These interviews have been edited for brevity and clarity. If you have an idea for ‘100 Days, 100 Voices’ please contact Nancy Andrews on Twitter @NancyAndrews or email at nancy.andrews [at] mail.wvu.edu.
