New Hampshire Car Dealership Owner Warms To Trump After Meeting
NPR
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
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NPR's Robert Siegel speaks to Toyota of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, dealer Jim Boyle, who he previously spoke to last fall when he was an uncommitted Republican. Boyle says he is now supporting Donald Trump after meeting him face-to-face.
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A year ago, Jim Boyle was an uncommitted Republican who leaned toward Carly Fiorina. Boyle says he is now supporting Donald Trump after meeting him face-to-face.
Transcript
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
Now our second Republican voter whom we're checking in with, Jim Boyle of Portsmouth, N.H., where he owns Toyota of Portsmouth. Mr. Boyle, thanks for joining us.
JIM BOYLE: Thanks for having me.
SIEGEL: We met almost exactly a year ago at your dealership. You had hosted an event at that time for Carly Fiorina, but you were open to other choices. Are you happy with Donald Trump as the Republican nominee?
BOYLE: Yes, very happy with him. Obviously, we talked about it the last time that we were looking for an outsider, someone to go in there and - now his new proper term is drain the swamp.
SIEGEL: Have you been actively working for his campaign?
BOYLE: Not actively. I wish I had done more. But we had recently had him at the dealership on the 15th. And we had over 5,000 people, so it was pretty impressive. And Mr. Trump came before the New Hampshire primary, and he returned just on October 15, so...
SIEGEL: Now, over the course of this year, Donald Trump has said many things that created controversy. Also, the notorious videotape came out of him from a few years ago. Did that give you any pause about him?
BOYLE: Well, it certainly didn't really give me any pause about him. It's just the point that these things are said - taken out of context. And for some reason, the media loves to cover that story. They want to cover that morning, noon and night. No one wants to talk about all the failures of Hillary Clinton or big government problems we have and Obamacare's a total failure and how it's affecting everyone's life.
SIEGEL: But his remarks on that video were - I don't know how one could say they were out of context. I mean, they seemed to reveal him when he didn't know he was being recorded. You didn't think we got the honest glimpse of Donald Trump at that moment?
BOYLE: No. I've met him a couple times, and he's a very impressive guy. He's a class act. He's got a beautiful family. Moments like that where they're caught on a hot mic are a reason a lot of really talented people do not run for public office, because they're afraid they're going to get a gotcha (ph) moment.
SIEGEL: Has this election changed your relationship or your view of the Republican Party and your sense of the future of the Republican Party in New Hampshire?
BOYLE: No. I think they're still on the right track. The problem is Mr. Trump is the first one who's ever not just taken the licking that most other candidates take and think that these problems will go away. He takes them head-on. And he doesn't want them to come back to bite him later, so when someone says something about him he calls them out on it.
SIEGEL: This presidential campaign has been unprecedented in several respects. And I wonder if you were to - how you would finish this sentence - the 2016 presidential race shows me that American democracy is...
BOYLE: Well, it's working. We've had more voters. Donald Trump got people off the couch.
SIEGEL: And even if he loses, that still will be a benefit, should that be the result of the election?
BOYLE: Well, I think, you know, hopefully he got enough people off the couch to get the right things done.
SIEGEL: Jim Boyle, thanks a lot for talking with us. It's good to talk with you again.
BOYLE: Thank you.
SIEGEL: Tomorrow we'll hear from two Democrats whom we met in the course of this campaign. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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