“I’m More Fearful of the Radical Left Than I Am of Donald Trump.”

The above quote really sums up the attitude of those who say they will be voting for Trump in November. That’s my conclusion from reading the large number of emails I’ve received in response to this column — and it’s a direct quote from one of them.

Virtually every Trump supporter admits that the president is seriously flawed, citing the same characteristics which the rest of us cite as reasons to vote against him. “It’s a terrible choice we have this year, but I’ll accept Trump for his flaws rather than let socialists, communists and Marxists take over,” to paraphrase the common theme I am hearing from them.

Democrats are portrayed as tolerating the violence and destruction “in Democratic controlled cities” like Portland, and Fox News is happy to feature that violence on every broadcast.  Trump is clever to send in federal agents, knowing that doing so will further escalate the violence, furthering a narrative that is central to his campaign.

“Defunding police” is an unfortunate term that is portrayed by Trump and Fox as abolishing law enforcement completely — another reason (if it were true) to fear a Democratic win in November. Even when acknowledging that Biden himself opposes defunding the police and is not a socialist or communist, the pitch is that he is senile and will be a puppet for his communist followers represented by AOC and “the squad.” These women of color “hate America” and, according to Trump, should “go back to the shithole countries they came from” — although, of course, they are all Americans. It’s a dog whistle to the unspoken (and sometimes spoken) racism of his core supporters.

What is it about AOC’s and Bernie Sanders’ “democratic socialism” that is so scary to Trump supporters? The right has come to support Social Security and Medicare, government programs attacked as socialistic when they were created.

And what is communist or Marxist about the Green New Deal? It’s about marshaling the resources of free enterprise and government to stem the warming of our planet which is causing increasing worldwide disruption and destruction. Free enterprise is already on board, fortunately, with solar and other green industries booming.

There has been talk recently, fueled by the president himself, that Trump might not accept the results of the November election if he loses. A bigger fear is that his well-armed militia supporters won’t accept it — especially if a Democratic win is considered a Marxist takeover — and we’ll have armed conflict instead of a peaceful transition of power. We can only pray that this doesn’t happen, but the signs are there and the justification for it is being amplified daily by the president.

As a former journalist myself, I am most disturbed by the attacks on the media and the dismissal of solid reporting unfavorable to Trump as “fake news.”  This is a core strategy of authoritarians, to have their followers get all their news from “official” sources and to dismiss anything said by others. What makes it so effective, of course, is that there’s a TV network or two (Fox and OANN) to give credence to the “company line.”  I honor the broadcast networks and CNN for soldiering on and reporting in the face of the verbal attacks, arrests and even death threats.

You can find an excellent summary of this thesis by Fareed Zakaria  (link) on last Sunday's Global Public Square (GPS) program.  In his hour-long documentary, viewable on CNNgo, there’s an excellent and frightening explanation of the Qanon which underlies the right’s readiness to dismiss the growing number of former Trump administration officials, generals and advisors (examples below) who have written books and op-ed articles saying a second Trump term could destroy America. Also check out Frontline’s “United States of Conspiracy," (link) which aired this Tuesday but which you can now watch online. 

It’s Useful to Know the Arguments Trump Supporters Make About Their Man

Researching and writing this column has given me an insight which many readers don’t have into what Trump supporters believe to be true about their candidate and what they are being told about Joe Biden. In addition to sampling Fox News (the primary diet of Trump supporters), I get lengthy emails from readers who are under the president’s spell — and who will remain under his spell no matter what the president says or does between now and the election on Nov. 3rd.

I have identified three principal themes to the Trump campaign strategy — and those themes will continue to work for his unquestioning and sheltered “base.” These themes are reinforced and given legitimacy by the base’s sources of information and opinion — the president’s tweets, Trump-promoting media like Fox News Channel, and emailed memes and narratives which are forwarded unquestioned by millions of Trump followers.  Here are some of them:

The three themes I have identified are: First, that Donald Trump, the “very stable genius,” has kept his campaign promises, revived a stalled economy inherited from Obama, and has been wrongly attacked (and spied upon illegally) from even before he took office. Second, Joe Biden is senile, can’t put two sentences together, and will be a puppet to supporters who are socialists/communists/Marxists (who “hate” America). Third, the country is under attack from out-of-control looters and rioters in Democratically-controlled cities. This third theme is reinforced daily by Fox News, which consistently focuses on this violence and especially on the injuries sustained by police officers. Anyone watching their reports would think this violence is far more widespread than it is and would naturally applaud Trump for sending unidentified federal officers in unmarked vehicles to, in effect, kidnap demonstrators, who they immediately release because they can’t charge them with a federal crime.

Regarding theme #1, I have a few observations. How anyone can buy that Trump is a genius, on a par with Einstein, is beyond reasoning. He says he know more than the generals, more than medical experts, more than experts in any field. He doesn't need or respect scientists on such topic as climate change. Economists have verified that Trump inherited a healthy economy from Obama and that his Tax Cut and Jobs Act (what jobs?) was unnecessary to stimulate the economy and only enriched the wealthy.  Economist Elliot Eisenberg told me, "The Trump years since he took over from Obama were roughly the same at 2.1% growth.  The only difference is that in 2018, growth was better due to the tax cut. Now Trump did some deregulation and that probably helped boost growth but not that much.  Trump’s policies helped a bit at the margin but nothing big."  

Regarding "Obamagate" (the "spying" by the FBI on the Trump campaign), it was prompted by the routine taping of Russians' phone calls, and given their phone calls intercepted with the Trump campaign, of course the FBI should have followed that lead.  If Obama really wanted to put his finger on the scale during the 2016 election, he wouldn't have kept that intelligence secret. Given that Trump won the election, he probably regrets that he kept that intelligence private. 

To counter theme #2, I would like Joe Biden to request a town hall program on Fox News, and speak out if he is denied such an opportunity.  Pete Buttigieg was given that opportunity by Fox and did an excellent job of countering whatever negative narratives viewers may have had about him.  How could Fox justify denying the same opportunity to Biden? Since theme #2 is that Biden is senile and “doesn’t know he’s alive” according to Trump, a town hall meeting would be a perfect opportunity — better than a debate with Trump — to counter that narrative.

And then, of course, there are the conspiracy theories propagated online and in Trump’s tweets, which are too numerous to mention here. Click on that link. 

Although Trump supporters aren’t inclined to do so, I recommend Googling each outrageous claim sent to you, or go directly to www.Snopes.com to get the background and truth.  Whether it’s “too good to be true” or “too bad to be true,” it probably is not true.  

Consider, for example, the above meme about Bill deBlasio. Did he change his name from Warren Wilhelm, Jr.?  From Snopes I learned that, yes, he did, and for good reasons. His nickname was Will, and when his mother divorced his abusive father, she and he took her maiden name. My dad, born Abbott O’Brion, and his mother did the same after she divorced my grandfather, taking her maiden name of Smith. 

 

Why Did Trump’s Top Republican Critics of 2016 Become His Top Apologists?

As John Bolton and others have explained, everything the president says and does is with re-election as his primary consideration. The same is obviously true for his Republican enablers in Congress when you revisit what they said about Donald Trump in 2016, as detailed in this excerpt from chapter 7 of the best-selling book, A Warning:

   New Jersey governor Chris Christie said the candidate lacked the credentials for the nation’s highest office. “We do not need reality TV in the Oval Office right now,” Christie lamented. “President of the United States is not a place for an entertainer.”

Senator Ted Cruz lambasted him as a “narcissist” and “utterly amoral.” Cruz argued that voters could not afford to elect someone so unfocused and social-media-obsessed. “I think in terms of a commander in chief, we ought to have someone who isn’t springing out of bed to tweet in a frantic response to the latest polls.”

Representative Jim Jordan, a leading conservative and one of the founders of the Freedom Caucus in the US House, wished Republicans in Congress had acted sooner to “avoid creating this environment” that allowed someone like candidate Trump to rise.

Texas governor Rick Perry labeled Trump “a cancer on conservatism” and a threat to the nation’s future. “The White House has been occupied by giants,” Rick noted. “But from time to time it is sought by the small-minded -- divisive figures propelled by anger, and appealing to the worst instincts in the human condition.” Perry said the businessman was peddling a “carnival act that can be best described as Trumpism: a toxic mix of demagoguery, mean-spiritedness, and nonsense” and that he was running on “division and resentment.”

Senator Lindsey Graham told American voters: “This is not about who we nominate anymore as Republicans as much as it is who we are.” He bemoaned that the party had not taken the long-shot candidate more seriously. “Anytime you leave a bad idea or a dangerous idea alone, anytime you ignore what could become an evil force, you wind up regretting it.” The senator said he would not vote for the man, who he called a “jackass” and a “kook.” Those who know Lindsay understand that he wasn’t using those words lightly. He meant them.

John Thune, one of the top-ranking Republicans in the Senate, expressed reservations throughout the race, but after the Access Hollywood scandal, he said the party no longer needed its candidate. “Donald Trump should withdraw and Mike Pence should be our nominee effective immediately,” he tweeted in the wake of the scandal, with only weeks until the vote.

Many other elected conservatives chimed in throughout the campaign, calling the Republican nominee a “bigot,” “misogynist,” “liar,” “unintelligent,” “inarticulate,” “dangerous,” “fraud,” “bully,” and “unfit” for the presidency….

[South Carolina congressman Mick Mulvaney declared Donald Trump is] “[one] of the most flawed human beings ever to run for president in the history of the country”…  Roughly twenty-four months later, Mick would become Donald Trump’s third chief of staff.

Last week I wrote that readers of this column who support Trump seem reluctant to answer the question, “How do you feel that the man you support is adored by alt-right extremists, white supremacists, etc.”  Three readers responded, but none of them actually answered the question. Here are excerpts, with uncorrected spelling and grammar:

 Tom H. wrote: "It seem to me your one of the left leaning Journalists, I could be wrong but!!! To answers your question: How I do I feel that Trump who I support is adored by people I consider deplorable — white nationalist, neo-Nazis, alt-right racists, and anti-semites.  First, I have absolutely no knowledge of those groups adoring Trump that you have mentioned.  I have never associated with any of those groups nor do I have knowledge of any American conservative having an association with those groups.  It seems perhaps you may have somewhat of an association with them by thinking or believing I or any conservative would.  These groups, after researching them, have very small numbers in their memberships.  My research found very little disruptive actions or behavior that even aroused the Fake News Media.  I believe your question is based on your personal hatred of Trump with no other meaning than to create your opinion and blemish the Conservative party.... Again to answer your question: It’s not the love of Trump but the love of our Country is why we love Trump."

Robert L. wrote: "I would imagine that YOU might likewise be 'adored' by people whom both you and I find not to our liking.  You, too, have little control over their liking or disliking you. I do not question you because of who likes you. Rather, I question you for developing  such an inane theory by which others are berated."

    Tom B. wrote: “Your challenge to Trump supporters to justify their support of him in view of the far right extremists who also support him is a false dilemma.  One does not have anything to do with the other.  Just as support by communists and socialists and extreme leftist loonies who support Democrats does not preclude you from also doing so.  Nor does it imply that you identify with or would associate with those groups.    This is not a case of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend.' I think that the reference to 'deplorables' by Trump and those self-identifying as such is for the most part a mocking and taunting of Hilary Clinton who was beaten by those she so insulted."

 

There’s One Question That Trump Supporters Don’t Want to Answer

Because of this column, I have been blessed with a flood of correspondence (mostly emails) from people who love President Trump.  I respond to every email, resulting in a few continuing exchanges by email with many Trump supporters.

Frequently, when replying to emails from those who defend Trump, I ask the following question, which is universally ignored when and if they do reply.  My question is, “How do you feel that the man you support is adored by people who you probably consider deplorable—white nationalists, neo-Nazis, alt-right racists, and anti-semites?”

Trump supporters accept Trump in spite of his crudeness, his misogyny, his adulterous past, his associating with people like Jeffrey Epstein, his slandering of our allies and praising of murderous dictators like Vladimir Putin, but they decline to comment on how he elicits support from those Hillary put in his “basket of deplorables.” 

I find it interesting that Trump himself, according to multiple reports, refers to his fringe supporters as “the deplorables,” as if he accepts and courts them. But how does that make his non-deplorable supporters feel? They won’t tell me. (Maybe their emails following this column will give me a clue.)

Is it possible that Trump’s non-deplorable supporters secretly like those statements and policies that excite the deplorables?

Could it be that supporting the incumbent president — typically an honorable thing to do — is a socially acceptable way for them to express feelings and beliefs that they wouldn’t otherwise share?  To many people. “Make America Great Again” sounds a lot like  “Make America White Again.”  That is, it seems, what Trump’s opposition to all forms of immigration — legal and illegal — is about. Recently he suspended the granting of work permits to all foreigners for all kinds of jobs, not just for picking our fruits and vegetables. 

He expressed it clearly in January 2018 when he said that Norwegians would be more welcome to move to the United States than immigrants from “shithole countries” such as Haiti or African nations. Such language is abhorrent — unless you actually agree with it.

In a previous column, I described how a fellow Realtor supports Donald Trump because his policies — specifically his tax cuts — have benefited her. (She has accepted the spin that it was a “middle-class tax cut,” when those cuts were really just a cover for a vast giveaway to the wealthy.)

I have heard from others who agree with her. Apparently, statements by Trump such as the one above aren’t enough to outweigh favorable opinions of the man based on self-interest.  I prefer to think that persons like my Realtor friend overlook rather than approve of Trump’s racist comments.

I don’t believe that anything, including this column, will convince anyone to stop loving Trump. Their biases and support based on self-interest run too deep.  We can only hope that what the polls tell us is true, that, despite the mud that will be thrown about Joe Biden — “mob boss of the Deep State” — there’s enough revulsion toward Donald Trump, the person, and enough opposition to his racist attitudes, that he will not succeed in winning for himself another term.

As John Bolton has said, our great country can survive one term of Donald Trump, but I’m worried about its ability to survive a second term.

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Thank you for your support

Some readers have asked how this column has affected my real estate business. A few Trump lovers have said they will never use Golden Real Estate because of the “venom” I spew. Thankfully, others have said they will now definitely use our agents for their real estate needs. Thanks!