During a recent interview with MSNBC Live host Craig Melvin, a Hispanic female Iraq War veteran rebuffed many of the arguments against someone like her supporting Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
After discussing Veterans Affairs healthcare issues with U.S. Army Capt. Francis Racioppi, Melvin turned to U.S. Marine Sgt. Delilah Bustamante to talk politics.
“You are not an undecided voter,” he said. “You are firmly in the Trump camp. Why?”
Bustamante explained she has been a Republican “since Day One” and has had a career in the military and law enforcement.
“I’m a big firm believer in you work hard, keep your money and you succeed by what you put in,” she continued. “I joined the Marine Corps because I knew that I wanted to be a part of something that could make this nation great.”
When she expressed her belief that America needs “people to step up and defend this great nation,” Melvin prompted Bustamante to defend Trump as such a leader.
He asked whether the fact that Trump does not have “any experience at all on any level of government” worries her, to which the veteran acknowledged she has given it some thought.
Bustamante expressed some concern over “the fact that [Trump] could have gone to the Vietnam War but apparently had some possible bone spur issues.”
She went on to note, however, that military service “is not for everybody” and she could not imagine Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton serving in the armed forces either.
Melvin concluded by pressing Bustamante for her reaction to the controversial statements Trump has made throughout the election about women and Hispanics specifically.
Speaking as a “very strong Hispanic female,” she said words do not hurt her.
Bustamante went on to defend Trump’s reference to the crimes committed by illegal immigrants, explaining she believes such bad actors should be deported.
“Not only are we taking care of our own country by taking care of our own citizens with our own criminals,” she said, “… now we have to worry about these illegal immigrants bringing their criminality from their country here.”
Such a system, she concluded, is “unfair to our American-born citizens and unfair to everyone.”
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