By Myriam Miedzian: Never Again: Learning From The Trump Tragedy.
. . . How could so many working class and middle-class people be so stupid as to support this ignorant megalomaniac con artist billionaire demagogue whose deepest commitment was to huge tax cuts for the very rich including himself? . . .
. . . the majority of Trump supporter are not stupid and not part of anti-Semitic and racist Nazi groups. Racism, opposition to abortion, clinging to traditional gender roles, play a part for some, but primarily they are enraged about what they experience as being pushed to the end of the line in terms of jobs and educational opportunities, being attacked by self-righteous left-wingers for being selfish, stupid, and racist . . .
Worth reading in full.
As is Clive Crook: Why People Still Support Trump.
“It’s not all about bigotry and ignorance,” he argues.
He’s right.
Yet, as you’ll see, he sets up a straw man when he says, “There are two main theories of Trump’s support. One is that a large minority of Americans — 40 percent, give or take — are racist idiots. This theory is at least tacitly endorsed by the Democratic Party and the mainstream liberal media.”
I don’t know anyone in the Democratic Party or mainstream media who believes 40 percent of Americans — i.e., everyone who voted for Trump — is a racist idiot. Clearly there are some. You saw racists marching with tiki torches. And if there are idiots who vote, it would not be surprising if they were quicker than non-idiots to believe Trump would get them “great health care at a tiny fraction of the cost.”
But to the extent Trump voters perceive the Party and mainstream media to view them this way — as the right wants them to, and as posts like Clive Crook’s tell them we do — it takes a toll. Perception is reality. Unless and until proven otherwise, we should assume that any individual Trump supporter is a core a smart, good person — the bill-of-goods they bought notwithstanding.
