Donald Trump Dating Site Founder: ‘You’re Not Alone’
Donald Trump Dating Site Founder: ‘You’re Not Alone’
The dating scene can be brutal, full of dashed hopes, rejections and left swipes. But David Goss thinks sometimes it can be especially difficult to find a love match if you’re a Donald Trump fan.
“Trump supporters definitely get a much worse rap than everybody else,” he told TIME.
That’s why he founded a dating website specifically for Trump supporters, Trumpsingles.com. The site launched in May, but after a round of press in June, it went from about 500 users to more than 10,000 in a matter of weeks, he says. More than half of the users pay $ 5 a month in fees to belong to the service.
“It’s just a way for us to put out there that you’re not alone as a Trump supporter,” Goss said of the site. “That there are other people out there like you, there are people that are single, that want to date and that want to have a happy relationship without politics getting in the way and destroying it.”
TIME spoke to Goss about launching the site, attractive Trump fans and why politics can get in the way of love.
TIME: Why did you initially decide to start the site?
David Goss: There is so much hate against Trump supporters these days that we wanted to put out a service where people could find each other that are like-minded, have the same views, same values, everything like that, so that we could help people match up.
Why do you think it’s harder in the dating game for Trump supporters versus supporters of other candidates?
I think it’s harder for everybody just because of the divisiveness that there is with everything that’s going on. But Trump supporters definitely get a much worse rap than everybody else. When you look at [Trump rallies], you see the hate and the violence that’s put towards Trump supporters. Anybody that dons anything Trump, all of a sudden they’re demonized for that. You see someone wearing a Hillary shirt or something, I just sort of roll my eyes and walk away, but I don’t ever say anything to them because it’s not my place to tell that person how to feel. But it seems to me that there’s a group of people within the liberal side of things, and even some Republicans who are very much against Trump, that tend to be more vocal against the Trump supporters. Which I don’t feel is right, because it kind of degrades democracy and free thinking.
Did you see #TrumpGirlsBreakTheInternet? It was a hashtag promoting images of sexy Trump fans. Do you think there’s a stigma or association of what a Trump supporter looks like?
I don’t think there is. There’s Trump supporters that are all over that are all different types of people. Definitely people are more attracted to more attractive people, and so that’s why something like that is going to be much bigger than if you were to take your average person and throw them up there. It’s not going to gain as much traction. So that’s just today’s world of sex selling, basically.
Do you think that if two people both support Trump, that necessarily makes them more compatible?
I do, just for the fact that they’re going to share the same ideas and same values, so that’s going to play into how they feel about each other, how they see each other and what they think about each other. If you take someone who’s all for Hillary who shares her values and you put them with someone that’s all for Trump with his values, it’s not going to work out. When you get married to somebody and when you’re in a relationship with somebody, you want to move forward with your life sharing the same values. You’re going to enjoy each others’ company more when you agree on things as opposed to constantly battling over whether we need stronger gun control or not.
When you started the site, did you have any idea it would get this many users?
Not at all. Now we’re much bigger than we ever thought that we would be, to the point where. . . I’m considering quitting my job to focus on this full time.
It just makes it so that it’s easier for people to feel better about being a Trump supporter, which is I think is going to be a big thing in November. There’s definitely people that are proud of being Trump supporters, but I think we’re going to be able to help people feel even better about it.
Are you a Trump supporter yourself?
I am. I’m going to be voting for him in November. I voted for him in the primaries. And I’m glad to be here to be able to help him try to achieve his goal of becoming our next president.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed.
(16)
