Trump supporters at the Shore want their country back

Diana Simpson sees headline after headline criticizing President Donald Trump, from his tweets to his soundbites during his first 100 days in office. But she says, by now, she knows not to put much stock in the ridicule of the man she voted for.

"I understand he's not a tactful man," said Simpson, 74, of the Leonardo section of Middletown. "He's not a politician, but he's truthful, and I look at what he's going to do."

Simpson believes he's off to a good start. He introduced a series of executive actions, including one expanding which unauthorized immigrants are "enforcement priorities," another calling for a review of companies importing foreign goods and two proposing a temporary travel ban, though both have stalled in the courts.

Trump loyalists like Simpson believe these steps will help protect and create jobs for Americans, and they have pushed back against civil rights advocates and progressives who say that president's policies discriminate against racial and religious minorities.

A combined 346,000 Monmouth and Ocean county residents voted for Trump on Election Day.

Gov. Chris Christie, one of the first prominent politicians to back Trump for president, gave him a "B" on Monday for his first 100 days in office.

"Listen, I'd give him a 'B,'" Christie told CNN's Jake Tapper. "I also think some of the things he has done by executive action have been good on the regulatory side. And I can see even in New Jersey that businesses are responding really well."

The more critics argue his proposals are racist or xenophobic, the more local Trump supporters argue the new administration is restoring American values and priorities in a country that’s become increasingly diverse.

And it's not just at the Jersey Shore. Trump has retained support from his base across the country, even though his approval rating is 42 percent, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. The results suggest his approval rating among those who voted for him is at 94 percent, and 96 percent of Trump voters surveyed said they would do it all over again.

"There seems to be a vendetta to get rid of the president instead of waiting to see what he'd do," said Simpson, "and that's not right."

Maintaining his base

While some of his first moves have alienated Democrats and even moderates, Trump's base welcomed them as signs that he will fulfill his campaign promises and restore their brand of American values. For his fiercest backers, those promises include weeding out unauthorized immigrants and securing the borders.

“I believe we are a melting pot, but everyone who came in from early days on – they did it legally,” Simpson said. “And I’m not against someone who happens to be from somewhere in the Middle East, but we also need to have control over our borders.”

Lisa Pierro, who has a summer home in the Ortley Beach section of Toms River, says she's not against immigrants or racial minorities. She's against people who don't follow the law and get away with it. One concern she has is that our government is catering to Latino immigrants, including those here illegally, rather than prompting them to assimilate.

"Why does my son in first grade have to be taught Spanish (in class) even though he doesn't fully know English yet?" asked Pierro. Public schools are required by the state to teach a foreign language.

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Her grandfather immigrated from Italy. But he raised his family to speak English. "He raised his family to be good Americans," she added.

Shauna Shames, a political professor at Rutgers University, believes conservatives' support for Trump is rooted in identity politics. She says Trump uses racist rhetoric with an economic focus that succeeds in pitting white Americans and some naturalized citizens against ethnic, racial and religious minorities, including unauthorized immigrants.

"Trump's promises and policies on immigration have been geared toward this group who feel threatened by some very deep changes in American demographics," Shames said. "The biggest problem, that I can see, is we don't have a vision on the opposite side for what it would mean to live and work together in a really diverse society where white people may not be the majority."

It comes at a time when Americans are more racially and ethnically diverse than ever before, she added. In 2016, 14 percent of the country was foreign-born, compared with 5 percent in 1965, according to the Pew Research Center. The center estimates that by 2055, the country will not have a single racial or ethnic majority.

America first

While Trump supporters may agree that recent population changes contributed to a cultural shift, locals say that Trump's policies are merely reinforcing the law to prioritize their safety and financial struggles over those of foreigners.

Joseph Rullo, a Republican from Little Egg Harbor running for governor, believes the country he loves is being overrun by unauthorized immigrants who are running people like him out of business — and he blames the government for letting them.

"As a business owner, I have been deeply hurt by this," says Rullo, who owns a landscaping business in Ocean County. "It has nothing to do with where someone comes from, who they are. It has to do with (the fact that) they're not following the same rules."

He sees Trump starting to deliver on promises to create job opportunities for Americans, one example being his "Buy American, Hire American" executive order.

The executive order, signed last week, recommends an overhaul of the visa lottery — the H1-B visa, for example, employs 85,000 foreigners and is popular within the tech sector. It also suggests tougher restrictions on importing foreign products, providing language requiring transportation projects to use steel "melted and poured" in the United States.

"With this action, we are sending a powerful signal to the world: We're going to defend our workers, protect our jobs, and finally put America first," Trump said Tuesday during a visit to Snap-On Tools in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Back in Ocean County nearly 900 miles away, Rullo says he wants to see the president take the next step: deporting unauthorized immigrants who he says are competing with legal immigrants and citizens for jobs.

"There's an acceptance for illegals. We (as a society) feel sorry for them," Rullo says. "Well, feel sorry for me and the legal employees who are unemployed because the workforce is saturated by cheap labor."

Steph Solis: 732-403-0074; ssolis@gannett.com