Today I had the experience of speaking with a Trump voter. I don’t know any personally, probably because we all tend to stick with folks who share our views. But I understand now how Trump has completely buffaloed a certain part of the population. When asked, the Trump voter revealed that he got his “news” from WMAL talk radio and the internet. He does not read newspapers because they are all “liberal” as are the TV news shows. I should caught on to his rabid Trumpism when I noticed that he and his wife were reading “Scorched Earth” while sitting on their front porch stoop. I could have sworn they were reading aloud to each other.
Trump voter compared Obama to Mao and has the notion that Hillary will simply kill off anyone who disagrees with her. I’m not kidding about this. He bragged about Reagan who lowered taxes for the rich. He didn’t realize that taxes actually were increased for folks with low incomes. Trump voter acknowledged the huge Reagan deficit which he justified somehow but then conceded that Reagan left an enormous deficit which was effectively lowered during the Clinton administration. But even then, he thought it was Gingrich who was responsible. But he also said that he liked Bill Clinton.
As for defense, Trump voter likes the strongman approach to negotiating. He’s not fearful of Trump’s finger on the button and disputed many of Trump’s own words. Trump voter did not seem to have much access to Trump’s speeches but instead has relied on talk radio and the internet to give him second-hand biased information.”
I hope that as Democrats we force ourselves to watch Fox News as odious as it can be. It’s important to understand the mind of a Republican or as Trump voter characterized himself, a conservative who thinks were are, oh dear, headed to socialism. Trump voter does not think for himself although he believes that he does. It just astonishes me that he can legitimately believe that the internet (crazy-town) and WMAL are providing truthful information or as I told him “facts”. It’s as if he doesn’t want to know. Yet, although I believe that his basic views are valid (but dangerous), he realizes that Trump is not the best person to promote his conservative notions. He tried to make excuses for Trump’s inflammatory remarks spinning this behavior as evidence that he says what he really thinks. Really? No one really knows what he really thinks and it’s amazing that Trump voter can trust this former Democrat.
It was hard to get away from Trump voter. And he was very polite and earnest. But so misguided. I can’t put him in the basket of “deplorables” but my concern is that anyone who ignores Trump’s racism, misogyny, disrespect for women and the disabled, and hatred for Muslims and Latinos (except when he can exploit them for his own benefit) cannot hold values that are consistent with America. That’s harsh because Trump voter considers himself to be very patriotic. I’m sorry but voting for Donald Trump is not patriotic and, in fact, is subversive to our Democracy.
