Matt McDonald considers himself to be politically independent. He campaigned for Republicans George W. Bush and Ron Paul, but he also voted for Democrats Mike Michaud and Emily Cain in recent elections.

So supporting Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primaries was not a stretch for him. And when Sanders lost to Hillary Clinton, changing his political allegiance to Donald Trump wasn’t a stretch, either.

Matt McDonald, shown in downtown Bangor, was a supporter of Bernie Sanders in the 2016 presidential race but switched to supporting Donald Trump after Sanders lost to Hillary Clinton. Staff photo by Gregory Rec

“There was enough commonality between Bernie’s platform and Trump’s platform for me to make that easy switch,” he says.

Both candidates opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership and North American Free Trade Agreement, and both opposed getting involved in a war in Syria.

As a Congregational minister, McDonald has long opposed war and joined in protests against the Iraq war.

So when President Trump ordered a missile strike on a Syrian air base, McDonald was taken aback.

“I was surprised and in some ways oppose it,” he says. As long as the strike is the extent of military action in Syria, McDonald supports Trump’s action. But he’s against any further involvement.

“I fully oppose putting troops on the ground,” he says. “I fully oppose getting into another Iraq quagmire.”

McDonald acknowledges that Trump has views and policies with which he doesn’t agree but says voters have to compromise with any politician.

“With any candidate, you don’t support 100 percent of what they do or their platform or policies,” he says.

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