How I Switched From Democrat to Republican

by Brandon Tatum

I grew up in an all Black community but I had a diverse upbringing because my parents worked hard to live in better neighborhoods and send us to better schools. My brother and I graduated from a high school right in the middle of the hood. I was arrested at 8 years-old for smoking marijuana; I was jumped into a gang by my cousins when we were 9 or 10. Following the path that God had for me in life is what really changed me from being a liberal Democrat to a conservative Republican.

I went to college at the University of Arizona as an All American football player and also the top safety in the nation. Things didn’t work out for me in Arizona. I was saved in 2008 and that had a tremendous effect on my life. I used to have gold teeth, walking around with my pants sagging, and I had a terrible attitude; but God changed me. At the time, I still believed that Democrats were for the Black people and Republicans were racist white people.

I became a police officer after the 2010 NFL draft didn’t go the way I wanted it to. At the same time, my son was born so I needed to make a grown-man decision so I could get benefits and support my child. I got a call back and did a ride-along that blew my mind because I realized that police officers are true heroes. I used to think football players were heroes, but they don’t have anything on being a police officer!

Almost everybody in the police department was conservative, except for some Black people. We used to debate all day long about Barack Obama and Democrats vs. Republicans. I used to stand up for Obama because I was convinced and ignorant but after Obama started verbally trashing police officers, I couldn’t support him anymore. Everyone was out to get us, especially Black people. We were being targeted and people were questioning our work so I decided I would never again support a politician who didn’t respect the men and women in uniform.

I started looking at the Republican party right before the 2016 election and I thought Donald Trump was a joke. Ben Carson was my man! After he dropped out and endorsed Trump there was a rally I attended in Tucson, Arizona so that I could find out what he was really all about. It ended up being that the protestors were crazy, deranged lunatics while the Trump supporters were good, God-fearing positive people of all faiths.

Ever since then, conservatism has been a way of life for me. We don’t protest against other people; we protest for our values. Being a Democrat I was forced out of this country and treated as if it belonged to the white man and I was just visiting. I am a part of the American dream and a part of American history. This country belongs to me too. Conservatism opened my mind to entrepreneurship and giving back to others; it’s called conscious capitalism.

I’ve been so inspired to be an American by President Trump and other conservatives. I’ve never been so inspired in my life; I feel like I can achieve anything and I want to help everybody that I can reach to pull them out of the brainwashed mentality of the Democratic party. That’s why I do what I do, speaking around the country because I believe in it. I believe in spreading the American dream to every single person, so that everyone can live the best version of their life.

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