(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) Former NASCAR racer Danica Patrick explained Monday night on Jesse Watters Primetime why she finally decided to exercise her right to vote for the first time.
“I am passionate because it feels like voting for Donald Trump is like the vote of reason,” Patrick told Fox News host Jesse Watters. “It’s like the rational, reasonable choice.”
Patrick said she did not have the time or energy for politics in the past because she was extremely focused on racing. She has also had successful side careers as model (including pitchwoman for her former sponsor, GoDaddy.com) and a businesswoman.
Patrick said she spent six years never watching the news—but now the news is all she puts on television.
“It’s not something I’m proud of, I would say, but it is true,” Patrick said.
“To explain myself slightly, one of the rules I’ve had for myself in all of past elections, no matter what has happened was I’ve said, ‘Look, if I don’t vote, it doesn’t mean that I don’t have an opinion, but I’m not gonna tell anyone about it,'” she said. “I don’t have a problem with anything. I can’t complain about anything because I didn’t do my part.”
Eventually, however, her opinions began to overpower her desire to remain blissfully disengaged.
Patrick cited backlash she faced for a December 2023 Instagram post at Turning Point USA’s AMfest as the catalyst for her political awakening.
She said she was puzzled by why “MAGA,” Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, is used as an “insult.”
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The famous female driver identified the gender gap as a major rift in the American electorate, acknowledging that some women may refuse to vote for Trump because of his personality.
“That’s the most common answer you hear from people: ‘I just can’t vote for him,’” she said.
“I don’t think that’s a good enough reason,” she continued. “You don’t have to go to dinner with him. You just have to like the country that you live in.”
Patrick previously revealed that she was a first-time voter while moderating an October townhall event with Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance in Greensboro, N.C.
Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and The American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.
