Many of Trump’s supporters were saying things like “We like him because he says what he means!” and then, after Trump would say something asinine (often) and get criticized for it, they would defend him with statements like “Oh, well that’s not what he meant.” They also said it was refreshing to have someone running for president who wasn’t afraid to speak his mind… no matter whether he was spouting conspiracy theories, blatant (and repeated) lies, or any number of racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, and what-should-have-been-horrific-to-decent-people things.
And now, as Trevor Noah points out in this clip from The Daily Show on December 14th, 2016, Trump is still speaking his mind, but this time, he’s pretty explicitly saying that he was full of shit and was just playing his audience… and his supporters eat it up. He’s also admitting (in the bit about Paul Ryan), that he’s a thin-skinned, vindictive, spoiled brat who will throw a hissy fit when he doesn’t get his way (or if someone doesn’t fawn over him).
Hello Dan, good to see all of the progress on your house. You do nice work.
I feel compelled to respond to this post. Trevor Noah *may* be making a valid point, but no more valid than the sentiments so many people felt when they learned that Hillary stated in a speech to Wall Street that a politician must have a public AND a private position on policy – validation of what most people feared about her. I never wanted Trump, but sure as heck wanted him way more than HRC, whose adherents are way more duplicitous in their support than any Trump fan. If you are a twitter follower, then you may know of a gentleman named Chris Arnade who spent a year traveling around American getting a sense of the “forgotten America” – forgotten by the coastal liberal communities and DC politicians, and he sums it up aptly. Trump’s success is a result of the dismissive attitude of “elites” in government, media, and the well-educated strata of society who have assailed the basic, home-spun value system of middle America, such as targeting Christians as homophobes for standing by their belief in heterosexual marriage as a Godly sacrament, or simply for being people of faith. (This by the way is something I’ve noted that you do as well, though you often have media personalities such as Trevor Noah do the talking for you.) The bottom line is that we “reap what [we] sow”, and this Trump phenom is the result of looking dismissively, and with disdain, on a large portion of America.
Tom,
Apologies for not having your comment approved sooner. I changed settings to avoid a lot of spam and evidently turned off comment notifications. My bad!
Thanks for the house compliment. It’s been a long (but interesting) process. 🙂
To your comments on the post…
Obviously I think Noah’s comments are valid. Right now, I don’t really feel up to giving a point-by-point analysis of the whole issue, I will say that I think any attempts to equate Clinton’s lies to Trump’s lies are disingenuous at best. Though Clinton was obviously not the right choice as the Democratic candidate, I feel her flaws are far, far eclipsed by those of Trump. Perhaps I’ll do a post on that sometime.
I’m not a Twitter follower, so haven’t heard of Chris Arnade, but your summary is something I’ve heard before. I don’t think either of us would agree that that is the ONLY reason Trump won, but I agree that it was a factor. I think there are more nuanced analyses that can be made.
Trump’s campaign played on racism and xenophobia and fear and distrust of anything that is “other” to “white America.” He rode to victory, in large part, on the backs of those who bought into his characterizations, people wanting to “Make America Great Again.” Taking Trump’s rhetoric and combining it with his slogan’s implication that America isn’t great now, but it was at some indeterminate time in the past, it’s not a huge leap to conclude that he (or his supporters) thinks that America was great when it was all white folk in charge and we didn’t have any African Americans or Mexicans or other immigrants mucking up the system. If that is what you’re referring to as the “home-spun value system” of middle America, then I find that value system reprehensible.
As for targeting Christians as homophobes, I agree that has taken place, though I personally don’t use that as a blanket label and would like to correct a mischaracterization of my stance. I do not begrudge anyone their beliefs. If you want to believe in the Christian God, or Shiva, or Odin, or Xenu… knock yourself out. You have that right and I fully support that right. Where I draw the line is where people take their religious beliefs and try to impose them on others, especially via the government.
If Christians or Muslims or Jews want to believe that marriage is a “Godly sacrament,” that’s their right. If they want to live by the rules imposed by their chosen holy book, that’s fine. When they try to use our supposed-to-be-secular government to impose those beliefs on others, especially when their beliefs are to the detriment of civil rights and equality, or when those beliefs fly in the face of scientific fact, THAT is where I have a problem. That’s not the exercise of “Freedom of Religion.” It’s the exact opposite of that.