by Marcel Beijer
IF THE American elections were to take place in the Netherlands, Kamala Harris might get 80% of the votes. After all, Donald Trump is mostly seen overseas as an eccentric clown.
Yet Jori Faber, active for the center-right VVD political party in Almere, traveled to the US at his own expense and in his own time to canvass for votes for Donald Trump. “I do not support everything he has done in the past, but I am a ‘political animal.’ For me this is a political experience,” Jori said. ”Eight years ago I was working on Hillary Clinton’s campaign, so against Trump.”
The Dutchman took seven weeks off from work to campaign for Trump. He has settled down in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a key swing state that could determine the outcome of the election. “I’m in South Philadelphia, where a lot of Trump supporters live. My job is to make sure they vote before Nov. 5.”
After the election, Faber will return to the Netherlands. “I’ll come back with a valuable experience that I can apply to my own political work.”
* Marcel Beijer is a journalist in Almere and winner of the 2023 Dutch News Magazine Journalism Prize.
