Tom, a 74-year-old retiree and Republican-leaning independent living in northeast Florida, vacationed in Hong Kong and Vietnam in January. When he landed at the airport in Los Angeles in early February, no one took his temperature or asked where he had been traveling, which was standard procedure in other countries.

“January and February were totally wasted by Trump. Totally wasted,” he said, asking that his full name not be used for fear of receiving retaliation from nasty online trolls or scorn from his Republican neighbors and golf partners. “To Trump, in my opinion, the virus is nothing more than an inconvenience to him and his political ambitions. And he doesn’t really care. I don’t believe he cares about the people. I don’t think he cares about who is affected by the virus. I think it’s really for him an inconvenience.”…

“I thought it would be a pretty interesting ride, and I wasn’t wrong. I just didn’t think it would be disastrous” for the economy, said Julio, who also did not want his full name to be used, to avoid offending co-workers who support the president. “He wants to say things, whether they’re true or not, to ingratiate himself. It’s a problem. There’s a trust factor there. I don’t even listen to him anymore because I can’t believe what he says. I wait until the apologies come later and the clarifications come later to understand what he really meant.”

He definitely will not vote for Trump, but he’s unsure if he will vote for Biden.