I hadn’t planned to write this.

Two years ago I said I would vote for a Democrat against Donald Trump in 2024. I wrote that in a Republican primary, I hoped that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis would win; DeSantis had stood almost alone against COVID lockdowns and vaccine mandates, forever earning my respect.

But Trump crushed DeSantis in the primary. Since then, I have been wondering what to do during this election.

In a sense, my vote doesn’t matter. I live in New York, which Kamala Harris is sure to win. But it must matter at least a little, because many of you – a surprising number – have asked or urged me to repudiate my 2022 words and support Trump.

Three days before the end of this most brutal campaign, I am.

In some ways, this choice hurts me.

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Donald Trump’s rhetoric is vicious. His refusal to promise to respect the results of Tuesday’s election is dangerous. His friendly attitude towards dictators like Vladimir Putin discourages me. And even though I hate abortion, I don’t support overturn Roe v. Wade.

Again.

Yet when I step back and think about the issues, I see:

It is the Democratic Party that opposes free speech; which forced mRNA vaccines on tens of millions of healthy adults; who opened America’s southern border until public outcry forced him to close it; who supports the decriminalization of drugs and the “decarceration” of violent criminals; who presides over one series of giveaways after another to his favored interest groups; and who is willing to endanger the U.S. economy over his fears of climate change – he has, without warning, pushed through regulations that will make gasoline-powered vehicles virtually unaffordable within a decade.

What exactly does Kamala Harris stand for, if not more of the same?

This is not a rhetorical question. I really don’t know. But she is happy to have the support of Dick Cheney, the chicken warmonger who for 50 years has defended everything that is wrong with American elites and American politics.

And if Donald Trump’s remarks have become more vicious, he has his reasons.

Last year, prosecutors in his former home state launched not one but two cases against him, the first aimed to bankrupt him because of loans he refunded in fullthe second to imprison him for the crime of winning in 2016. Before juries in Manhattan, a county that voted against Trump by nearly 9-1 in 2020, both were successful.

And – even if the media rarely see fit to talk about it – Trump was almost assassinated in Julyin circumstances that remain somewhat unclear.

In response, Trump did NOT stop his campaign.

He is working harder than ever to win votes, in the face of a media elite who hate him more than ever. For all his complaints about rigged elections, he really wants to win this one.

So yes, Donald Trump is angry. He has the right to be.

Republican candidate Donald Trump is seen with blood on his face surrounded by Secret Service agents as he is led off stage during a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024 (Photo by Rebecca DROKE / AFP) (Photo by REBECCA DROKE/AFP via Getty Images) (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)

We ALL have the right to be. For too long, our self-proclaimed best people – in the media, in public health, in academia – have told us they know best. They told us that men can become women if they click their heels three times, that the United States is an evil nation founded primarily to protect slaverythat there is no such thing as an illegal immigrant. Above all, they tried to close – to cancel, to censor -anyone who disagrees.

They have gone too far. And with their legal fight, they have proven that they will do anything to stop the man they abhor.

So I will vote for Donald Trump.

It’s not an easy choice – not for me anyway – but it’s the only choice.