North Texas Daily

Alyssa Wolverton | Contributing Writer

When Harrison first told me, I thought it was a joke.

“I can’t wait until Trump is president!” he exclaimed. Then I realized after a few more awkward sentences that yes, this guy was indeed a real Trump supporter in Denton. And he was on his second date with me.

Our first date was on Mar. 15, 2016. I remember because it was the best damn date of my life. We went to LSA Burger. We strolled UNT’s campus and sat on one of the benches. We played pool on Fry and walked back for a final drink at Pascall’s. The topic never came up that night and I knew that was on purpose. Sometimes, Harrison worries about saying what he really feels at UNT.

But when we hung out again the following week for lunch, it did come up and of course, I had a million questions. At first, he joked that Hillary was a criminal. Then he told me how Trump was not another politician and wanted to make a real change for this country.

Some of this disturbed me. Since 2013, I had taken an abundance of philosophy and rhetorical communication classes here that were pretty liberal leaning. At least he could support his opinions well enough and, trying to be the open-minded liberal I had grown up to be, I wanted to at least try to appreciate him for who he was.

Our third date was at the gun range, I kid you not. He was very serious there, with no touching or “being cute” allowed. We had to stay focused as I shot my first gun at the target, being careful to keep the barrel pointed away from anyone at all times.

I was surprised how seriously everyone at the range was taking the handling of weapons. And, lo and behold, it was actually really fun. Soon after, though, we were just making out in his car. Our political identities weren’t so important then.

So we went on like this and soon began the other fun part: explaining Harrison’s political beliefs to friends. They were baffled. “How can you date a racist bigot, Alyssa? Don’t you think there is something seriously wrong with him?”

I took Harrison to a party where he was a specimen. He was asked a million questions about his political philosophy, all answered in the politest of ways. My friends had doubts, true. But they love being able to talk intelligently with Harrison about politics, and whenever they get abrasive, he stays cool. Mostly, he and my friends end up asking each other the same question: how could someone vote for a villain?

It wasn’t until we were eating breakfast at Chick-fil-A, with him open carrying and reading the Dallas Morning News, that something extreme came up. It referred to one of Harrison’s favorite news sites as “neo-nazi.” I couldn’t stop laughing. Harrison re-read the statement and furrowed his brow.

I said, “Honey, do you think that’s accurate?”

He said, “No! That whole site is one big joke. They just say that garbage, and maybe a couple racists finally think they have friends, but everyone knows it is fake.”

I stopped laughing. “Do you think it’s fake, Harrison?”

“Of course. They say the craziest s–t and it’s super funny. I know they’re exaggerating.”

Here is something you don’t know about Harrison. He is extremely smart. At this moment, I didn’t know how badly he liked Trump, but I was relieved that it wasn’t too extreme.  I can’t say he’s never voiced racist opinions at me, but the few times he has, I quickly point it out for good measure and he’s agreeable to it.

Since then, however, our conversations about politics have taken on a new flavor. We have had an entire date about “the wall.” We literally had to sit down and talk about why it was a good idea or not. After the Dallas shootings, he was devastated and could barely contain his lack of understanding for BLM supporters. We had to have long conversations about that too.

Another thing to note about Harrison is that he hates arguing and loves it when people get along. He lost his father in the Iraq War, so he desperately wants people in America to be safe and to value everything great about our country.

He goes out of his way to be kind to strangers and people on the periphery of society, such as homeless and disabled people. He is an atheist who loves all things science and history related. He genuinely does not agree with everything Trump says. He loves “Calvin and Hobbes,” memes, working out, reading, puzzles and, most importantly, me.

The truth is our political views are a very small part of our relationship. It can get heated at dates, but only for a short while. Honestly, I like it. I like being able to really know what I believe. Harrison challenges that in me. I think the most important part about meshing political beliefs while dating is that you both believe in something powerful.

I am not very political, but I am deeply religious. Somehow, it works for Harrison and me, and I praise God every day that I found him.   

Harrison makes me laugh so much. He helps me stay motivated to be healthy. He cuts the itchy tags out of my shirts, tries the weird food I make and reads “Calvin and Hobbes” out loud with me.

I secretly hope that one day, Harrison would sit me on that bench again like we did on our first date. You know the one on the Library Mall, the one that swings and faces the Union, underneath that tree where the albino squirrel lives?

Yeah, that one. I hope we get to hold hands, laugh and remember how awesome life is together and where it all started. We will rest assured that although we will always have political (and many other) differences, sometimes love works in mysterious, powerful ways. Particularly at UNT.

Featured Image: Alyssa Wolverton and Harrison Allton spend time with one another. Emily Hoffman.