In the decade since Paul*, a marketing strategist working with some of the biggest brands in the US, moved from London to the States he has seen the country change almost beyond his recognition. Although he and his wife are both high-income earners, their rent has more than doubled in a decade. This will be their highest earning year as a family, but despite that, they are still dipping to savings every month.
“It’s amazing how much more expensive it is just to live now. And you can’t watch the news here without it being someone else’s opinion,” he explains. “That is not the land of the free. It’s certainly not the land of opportunity that I moved to over 10 years ago.”
Now in his early forties, Paul has a young daughter who is a US citizen and is so worried about the prospect of a second Trump term he asked to remain anonymous for the purposes of this interview.
If Donald Trump wins, he fears that he and his wife, who are both British, might find their immigration status at risk if they share their political views in a public sphere. They do not want to risk being pushed out of the country they now call home. Nevertheless, should Trump succeed in returning to the Oval Office, the family might choose to leave of their own accord.
“It’s pretty horrible,” he says. “It genuinely feels like our quality of life as a family is in the balance – and yet we get taxed through the nose without any representation.”
Paul describes witnessing the last two presidential elections as “like immersive theatre” and was incredulous to see that Trump managed to secure a first term in 2016. By 2020, the couple were already considering moving out of the US had he won, but were given some respite by Biden’s victory. Since then, the couple have had a child which makes the decision even more significant.
In fact, the pair are most concerned about their toddler growing from a child into a woman in a country that, under Trump, could restrict her reproductive rights.
Landmark abortion ruling Roe v Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022, allowing decisions on abortion provision to be made by individual states. Since then, 13 states have banned abortion outright, with others bringing in restrictions dependent on gestation.
Although Paul doesn’t believe a repeal of Roe vs Wade could eventually lead to a federal level abortion ban (“Trump wouldn’t have the backbone”), the principle is upsetting for him.
“The fact that there is an active agenda to diminish her rights as a person, let alone as a citizen, is weighing on us massively,” he says.
However, Paul says he can understand why some US citizens feel so aggrieved by the state of the nation, which he believes has changed for the worse.
He also understands fears about immigration, which he says is not a concern fabricated by Republicans.
When Kamala Harris replaced Joe Biden in the Democrat campaign, Paul was enthusiastic but he says there are underlying prejudices in US society that prevent her racing forward in the presidential contest – even though she has been a very effective fundraiser.
“For the undecideds, the odds are stacked against her by what she looks like and what she sounds like. The misogyny and racism around her campaign is pretty present,” he says. “It’s not a nuanced country at the best of times, but a lot of people agree that she’s using her race as a ‘diversity and inclusion’ pass on the ticket. Even my uncle and aunt. They’re huge MAGA voters.”
The atmosphere across the country as voting opens is febrile, and every conversation “feels like a political bunfight”, he says. But Paul observes that this stage – painful though it is to live through – may simply be the next stage of maturation for the relatively young country. Former president Jimmy Carter, he notes, has been alive for a third of the country’s history.
“This is a very adolescent country. What do adolescent boys do? They’re never wrong, and every good idea they’ve had, someone else has planted it in their head and made them think it’s theirs. It will grow up and learn some life lessons soon enough.”
As for his prediction on the outcome of next month’s election, Paul believes Harris will win the popular vote but Trump will secure the electoral college, thus securing the presidency – and if he doesn’t, Paul is concerned that violence similar to that seen on 6 January will follow.
“January 6th was no joke. The whole country ground to a halt as the Confederate flag was being flown through the halls of Congress. I think this time it will be more violent and even more widespread. This country will tear itself apart.”
And personally, that will be the end of the road for Paul and his family too. “We really wouldn’t want to leave, but I’m not raising my daughter in a society in which she is not my equal. For me to stay just because of the standard of living and my income would mean that I’ve sold my soul. And I’m currently really struggling with that as a potential outcome. I really do hope Harris wins.”
*Name has been changed
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