Hillary Clinton’s approval ratings have ebbed and flowed throughout her career. During her time as Secretary of State, she enjoyed a relatively high rating, up to 69% in 2013. The numbers began to drop after she began thinking aloud about running for president. Trust seems to be a factor: A pre-convention Wall Street Journal/NBC poll found that in this election, only 38% of voters felt she was “honest and straightforward.”
Why did her numbers for trustworthiness slip when we began to consider Ms. Clinton as a potential president? Is it the stories of unsecured email usage? Is it the revival of two decades worth of attacks from the right? Is there just something about her? Is it her gender? Some ten weeks before the election, we wanted to see how Brooklyn is feeling about Hillary, so we asked a people in the borough these questions: Do you trust Hillary Clinton? Why? Or why not? Here are some answers.
—Jennie Kamin
Diane Kepford, 69; artist in Park Slope
“I trust Hillary because of her history and her willingness to stick with situations that may not be entirely to her liking but she makes them work. Given the choice between Hillary and Donald Trump, it is a joke that’s frighteningly serious.”
—Hannah Long-Higgins
Mary Hanna, 27, Staten Island, interviewed in Bay Ridge; assistant teacher
“I don’t trust her with my vote because she’s said a lot of things that did not happen. It was great you sold us a dream, but it’d be nice if that was a reality.”
—Chris Gelardi
Victor Young, 65, Crown Heights; deacon in a local church
“I trust her because she has been in the office for a while. I suppose her being a woman makes me uneasy. [But] it’s not just her being a woman, it’s a coordination of mind that I look at, you know?”
—Diego Courchay
John Peitler, 49, Long Island, interviewed in Gowanus; real estate broker
“I don’t trust any politicians. The whole situation with the email scandal—it almost reminds me of Nixon with the Watergate tapes….Even when Obama was elected he gave up his personal Blackberry that he loved.”
—Jennie Kamin
Laura Soto, 25, Greenpoint; dealer’s assistant at a contemporary art gallery
“No president is trustworthy. I’m extremely suspicious and have hesitations about her in general. But I think, with the emails, everyone’s harping on that, which I kind of give her a pass. Most male politicians do the same things, so I take that with a grain of salt.”
—Katie Krzaczek
Jim McHugh, 37, South Williamsburg; bartender/musician
“She’s involved in war crimes, specifically in Syria and Pakistan. They’re killing civilians.”
—Modupe Macaulay
Cara Conaboy, 25, Cobble Hill; line cook
“I will be voting for her not exactly because she’s the best candidate. Having a Democrat in there is the most important thing. Having anyone but Trump there is the main important thing. I trust that she will be the lesser of two evils.”
—Nathaly Pesantez
James Dier, 44, interviewed in Bed-Stuy; DJ
“She’s a typical politician. She tries to paint herself as more left than she is and is more like Reagan and Thatcher. You can’t trust them. There was a hashtag not too long ago asking #WhichHillary. She is very much like a weathervane—saying things to gain votes from particular places and people. It took her until 2013 to back gay rights.”
—Annette Ejiofor
Mark Shane, 37, Greenpoint; teacher and artist
“I do trust her. And I think the usual GOP talking points are just being picked up and pushed. The email server is completely idiotic, but in the broader picture it’s a low transgression.”
—Katie Krzaczek
James DiOrio, 50, Cobble Hill; retired construction worker
“I think they’re all crooks. Hillary is more knowledgeable about politics and all. Trump? I don’t know, Trump says what people want to hear…. I don’t know if I’ll be voting. Last person I voted for was Reagan. Come November, I think I’d go for Trump.”
—Nathaly Pesantez
Ron Lane, 31, Downtown Brooklyn; hospitality ambassador
“I don’t trust Hillary Clinton or the other one. I will not vote in November. Both of them can’t live up to their promises.”
—Siqi Tian
Luis Chavez, Coney Island; salesperson
“I have doubts about Hillary Clinton. I don’t think she’s the right person to lead this country. To lead the country you have to be a clean person. She has lots of troubles. Her plan is not convincing.”
—Jingyi Liu
Eazizia Ali, Bushwick
“To me she’s trustworthy. She stood by her husband after everything he did. That’s loyalty, that’s trust. I don’t think she’s untrustworthy. Hillary has been my girl since Bill was in office. And the first woman President would be good too. We can do some things with her in office.”
—Jeremy House
Mike Pate, 46, Red Hook; lawyer
“She is, objectively, full of shit. Like, just from a layperson’s point of view. Look at what she said about gay marriage. She was against it. All the time. But when it became opportunistic for her to be supportive of it, she said, “Yeah, I’m all about it!” She’s a politician through and through. And the fact that she’s a woman is not trumping the fact that she’s a liar…. Everybody is buying this “lesser of two evils.” That’s what the Hillary people are saying. Vote for her because she’s the lesser of two evils. But she is as evil as Trump.”
—Anjali Nayar
David Acevedo, 31, Red Hook; retail worker
“Hillary definitely has my support but the reason I will not be voting is I can’t support an imperial government like the United States. Last I checked the U.S. has spent nearly 2 trillion dollars on the Iraq War. I don’t think anyone can even fathom how much money that is.”
—Demi Vitkute
Meirave Siegel, 30, Prospect Heights; nurse practitioner
“I do absolutely trust in Hillary Clinton. You need experience for the job and she has it. I like her education and tax policies and she is very pro-American in her stance in that she is more for the middle and lower classes.”
—Annette Ejiofor
Jose M. Carrera, 77, Retired in Park Slope
“Yes, because she’s a woman! A woman! A woman! It’s the U.S. and a woman is the U.S.A. president? Oh my God!”
—Hannah Long-Higgins
Nabir Koubaissy, 48, Staten Island, interviewed in Gowanus
“Yeah I do trust her. Because she’s a better liar than Donald Trump.”
— Jennie Kamin
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