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Saturday, September 10, 2016

If Trump's Supporters are not Bigots, Why do They Support Him?

Just think of all the things he has said. Think of the fact that he got his push into politics via Birtherism which he refuses to take back.

You have Rudy Giuliani and Kellyann Conway suggesting Trump doesn't believe Obama might have been born in Kenya now but Trump himself has not taken it back and simply says he doesn't want to talk about it anymore.

Trump himself has made some many racist comments: Mexicans are rapists, a Latino judge can't rule on his Trump U case, the Khans' son wasn't a hero because he was Muslim; he wants to deport 12 million people; he wants a Muslim database and wants to ban Muslims.

But now there is outrage that Hillary said 50% of his supporters are racists. That could be a low number.

A few tweets from Judd Legum:

"CNN calls the contention that some Trump supporters are racist a "shocking statement"

https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/774439894479278080

"Two-thirds of Trump supporters believe Obama is a secret Muslim."

https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/774438435146780672

You see why I said 50% could be a low count...

"If u support a candidate who wants a giant wall, a Muslim ban and mass deportation, don't get upset at the notion it's 50/50 you're a bigot."

https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/774444465276628992

IDEA: Maybe we should be more concerned about the views of some Trump supporters than accurately describing them."

https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/774447681120956416

1. There are two possible objections to Hillary saying around 50% of Trump supporters are racist or xenophobic or Islamophobic

https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/774451375665192960

2. First that it's bad political strategy to say anything negative about voters. This might be true but is also a self-fulfilling prophecy

https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/774451651524587520

Possibly. But do you really believe she's going to win over the hardcore racist Trump supporters? She did agree that 50% are not, are just disappointed in government, etc. So maybe those in that group feel grateful she gave them an out and rethink their support.

I'm not saying that is necessarily the most likely outcome, but let's face it: the 'deplorables' she's referring to are going to support her when hell freezes over.

3. Second possible objection is that Hillary's comments were inaccurate. They were not.

https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/774452035659919360

It would be appalling after all the offensive things Trump has said up to and including calling for Hillary's own assassination if she now has to apologize for somehow being scandalously honest.

Even NBC's Mark Murray doesn't seem to be buying into this:

"I see the comparisons to "bitter/cling" & "47%," but are we really going to pretend race and other-ness haven't been key part of this race?"

https://twitter.com/mmurraypolitics/status/774592528255488000

That CNN considers this shocking just shows how skewed their priorities are. They are saying you can't call racism, racism.

Again, Hillary's count was low:

"61% of Donald Trump supporters don’t believe President Obama was born in America. 62% think he is a secret Muslim."

https://twitter.com/scottbix/status/774598246945722370

Heck, 20% of Trump supporters think abolition was a mistake.

"Nearly one in five Trump supporters didn't approve of freeing slaves in the Confederacy."

https://twitter.com/BroderickGreer/status/774598841395998720

Southpaw sums it up well:

"This is all a reminder that many reporters see this race vastly differently than I do. They consider the GOP nominee a legitimate choice."

https://twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/774458463900561408

That the mostly white, Beltway elite doesn't get it was shown a few weeks ago when it declared 'Both candidates are calling each other racists! Isn't that awful?'

Supporting an openly racist candidate who advocates a variety of war crimes is not okay. Trump supporters should be ashamed of themselves."

https://twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/774458819359416320

But the media thinks it's worse to call out racism than be a racist.

James Fallows had it right 22 years ago.

https://www.amazon.com/Breaking-News-Undermine-American-Democracy/dp/0679758569/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473518455&sr=8-1&keywords=james+fallow

He talked about how the media undermines democracy. This was in 1994.

He is worth reading every day, I should say.

http://www.theatlantic.com/author/james-fallows/

His Trump time capsules are a must read.

Let's finish with Slate's Jamelle Bouie:

"It seems that the official position of at least some of our observers and reporters is that there are no racists in America."

https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/774615447429844992

2 comments:

  1. The "secret Muslim" or "secret Kenyan" thing I think is clearly racism. People might say that "No, being Muslim isn't a race!" but to point it to delegitimize America's 1st black president, so yeah, it's racism. If it's not racism, then those who believed/believe in the Elders of Zion conspiracy aren't anti-Semites.

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  2. I mean even if you really wanted to quibble racism and Islamophobia are first cousins and the two are normally present together.

    Everything Trump has said-and done in his career-makes it obvious hie's a racist.

    Then you have the Alt Right running his campaign.

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