The Only Possible Way to Understand White Trump Voters

[SimpleDon]

When all you have is a hammer . . .

Insightful. Do you have a different explanation for the unhinged Trump voters? Possibly you think that they are all racists?

 

[SimpleDon]

How the frig do you explain the black Trump voters?

I didn't post this to be an explanation for all Trump voters. Obviously some are racists. Some hope that the Trump judges can set the nation right with their God, who, spoiler alert, doesn't actually exist so it is kind of hard to do. Some want their taxes lowered. Some have voted for Republicans so long that they haven't noticed the party's endorsement of fascism. Etc.

 

[SimpleDon]

How the frig do you explain the black Trump voters?

Yeah, right!? Who gave these uppity blacks the right to think for themselves? Where are the white liberal women to correct them on their wrongthink?

While most Republicans and conservatives aren't racists themselves, they deserve high levels of condemnation for providing a political home for the racists.

Essay question, do you think that we would have less racism and fewer racists in this country fifty years after the civil rights era broke statutory racism if the Republican party didn't accept the support of the racists and provide them with a political home?

The irony of this is that blacks are no different than whites in that many are socially conservative, especially the evangelicals and fundamentalists. Absent the fact that the Republicans openly embrace racism, many, perhaps a near majority, would vote for Republicans. This would be a substantial gain for the Republicans unless they believe that their are many more racists in the party than the number of half of the black population.

There is a simple explanation for the black Trump supporters. They are conservatives who hold their noses and ignore the Republican support for racism and racists because their conservative beliefs override their disgust.

 

[SimpleDon]

I left him at this point as he devolved into a discussion of a civil war, Hitler, and whether Trump could overcome his own innate incompetence to organize his own brown-shirt type paramilitary force. .

I left at this point, his opening gambit.

This Labor Day weekend, many of us observed what appeared to be a nationwide pride parade devoted to worshipping the first aspiring American dictator, He of the Golden Manhattan Penthouse, President Donald Trump.

What drivel.

Insightful. I admit that the author is somewhat hyperbolic here but it isn't nonsense. The attachment of a large part of Trump's supporters is emotional, not objective. And you can't deny Trump's authoritarian bent, his love of dictators and his many failures to observe many of the tenets of democratic rule.

 

[southernhybrid]

I know 3 types of Trump voters.

1. The ones who are like my brother in law, rather affluent and only caring about how much taxes they pay. My bro in law doesn't care about much of anything but himself, and his money. I don't think he's racist at all. He just loves money and wants as much money as possible. He's a dentist so it's not like he's exactly poorly educated. According to my husband, his brother has been this way his entire life. I'm sure there are plenty more like him, as well as small business owners who simply fear that Democrats will over regulate them etc.

2. The White evangelicals. I've read articles about how Trump learned how to manipulate them by promising conservative judges and by pretending that he believed what they do. I know of a nurse who falls into this category. I don't see her as a racist or as someone who is too worried about her white identity. It's more about her Christian identity. People like her also get all of their news from places like Fox. They have been lead to believe that we nonbelievers want to deprive them of their beliefs, when nothing could be further from the truth. We just don't want a theocracy, but some of them think that their Christian beliefs are the only ones that matter. They see Trump as their savior.

3. The people who pretty much fit in with the article in the OP. We have lots of Trump supporters in our neighborhood, as evidenced by their yard signs. But, there is one large family who seems to love riding around in their pickup trucks while flying a huge Trump flag, probably to piss off the libs. We refer to them as the "rednecks". They are loud and obnoxious. They seem to enjoy pissing being annoying. Are they racists? I have no idea but they are living in a neighborhood that is becoming far more racially integrated than it was a few years ago. I don't know if that bothers them or not. After all they chose to live in a Black majority town, when they could have moved to the mostly white exurban area.

The thing that I am skeptical about is the idea that a civil war is near. I doubt that. There will be civil unrest, which is very different from an out and out war. Even my redneck neighbors would probably not go to war. They have children. They have jobs. Is it reasonable to think that they would give up their livelihoods to participate in a civil war? Are they going to kill our Black neighbors, who include at least one cop, one firefighter, one teacher, one nurse? Seriously? If there is an actual civil war, who will fight in it?

Perhaps some young people who have few responsibilities will line up on both sides and start a conflict, but even that is hard to visualize. I think it's more likely that we will have civil unrest, protests that might include violence, or looting etc. Those things have happened intermittently throughout the history of this country. I just don't see most Trump supporters starting a civil war if their dear leader is defeated.

So, while there might be something to the idea that some White people want to make a statement about White Pride, I think a majority of Trumpers are more into Christian identity than White identity.

 

[SimpleDon]

Black Trump voters are like chickens voting for Colonel Sanders.

‘Cause blacks living in Democrat cities are doing great. Amirte? They should just keep voting for more of that.

Unlike blacks living in red cities who are rolling in clover?

I have to think that the city that blacks live in has little to do with their economic status. But you must have a reason to believe otherwise. Please, don't keep us in suspense.

 

[TSwizzle]

What drivel.

I admit that the author is somewhat hyperbolic here but it isn't nonsense.

Most likely it is nonsense. You lot have been harping on about Trump supporters since November 2016 and either you still don't get it or you just repeat the tedious "orange man bad/Hitler/racist/fascist" etc, etc.

The attachment of a large part of Trump's supporters is emotional, not objective.

Says you. I'm sure they see it different.

And you can't deny Trump's authoritarian bent,

Oh give over. I have been living in perpetual lock down under the insufferable prick Gavin Newsom for the past six months. Newsom actually is an authoritarian and you lot lap that shit up with a spoon.

{snip}and his many failures to observe many of the tenets of democratic rule.

LOL, says the navel gazing weirdos that have been chasing Trump down with impeachment etc since 2016 and continue to do so.

 

[SimpleDon]

How the frig do you explain the black Trump voters?

Candace Owens' explanation is that a growing number of blacks are waking up, thinking for themselves, and escaping from the Democrat plantation.

With all due respect to Owens, there is no reason that if not for the Republicans' endorsement and support for racism many blacks would be taken in by the libertarian claptrap as many whites who avoid critical thinking have been.

 

[ronburgundy]

So, while there might be something to the idea that some White people want to make a statement about White Pride, I think a majority of Trumpers are more into Christian identity than White identity.

But there is a sizable overlap between Christian identity and white identity among whites. It's currently (and finally) less acceptable to overtly endorse Christian identity than white identity. So, of course that would be the more overtly driving factor. But the reason that the blatant racism and affiliation with overt white supremacists doesn't bother most white evangelical Trump supporters is that they don't reject that racism and implicitly hold many of its assumptions, even if they don't explicitly embrace it. This is nothing new. Evangelical Christianity in the US has its roots in racism and xenophobia. Speeches by pastor of the 1st and 2nd "Awakenings" in the 18th and 19th centuries are rife with a blend of Christianity, nationalism, and racism, along with a anti-intellectualism and anti-modernism. It is no coincidence that the most organized white supremacy movement of the 19th and 20th century's, the KKK, is also a Christian identity movement. Current white Christian identity movements learned that it is politically expedient not to form such an explicit association, but are still rooted in the same worldview that gave rise to that association in the past.

As for the 1st type of Trump supporter you list, the right winger who wants to pay little taxes, there is overlap with that ideology and white supremacy too. There are some true clinical sociopaths that lack any empathy for others or concerns about injustices, and they would be attracted by the right wing. But they are relatively few in number. Among non-sociopaths, the faith in "free markets" to result in fair deserved outcomes and thus the rejection that some level of wealth redistribution is morally required entails rejecting that existing group inequalities in wealth are the result of systematic government sponsored injustices of the past that markets have failed to correct. Rejecting this obvious fact requires some manifestation of white supremacy. Clearly blacks are notably worse off as a group in terms of nearly every possible social and economic outcome. If systemic injustices, whether presently and/or in the past are not the cause, then it implies that they are inherently lesser in the traits required to succeed socially and economically. Thus, to reject that current group inequalities are unjust is to implicitly endorse the dogma that blacks are inherently inferior. It need not be, but sometimes this can become explicit, which is why economic conservatives seem to almost always be the ones who promote scientific racism, such as defending a genetic basis for IQ differences.
I agree that racism is not the driving factor for this group, but it is still often a byproduct of maintaining and rationalizing their dogma in denying racial injustices related to wealth outcomes that is highly prevalent among economic conservatives. I know a number of people like your brother in law, including my own brother, and while they lead with economic conservatism, when cornered by a discussion of racial inequalities in wealth and their relation to white supremacy they usually wind up endorsing core white supremacist assumptions without even realize they are doing it.

 

[ronburgundy]

How the frig do you explain the black Trump voters?

Candace Owens' explanation is that a growing number of blacks are waking up, thinking for themselves, and escaping from the Democrat plantation.

As, with almost everything Owens says, that claim is refuted by the facts. Trump and GOP support among blacks is the same or slightly lower than for Republicans 25 years ago.

 

[skepticalbip]

How the frig do you explain the black Trump voters?

Candace Owens' explanation is that a growing number of blacks are waking up, thinking for themselves, and escaping from the Democrat plantation.

Owens is a sell out, .............

That is the kind of racism promoted by the democrat party that Owens goes on about in her blaxit movement. Any black who would dare to not blindly accept and promote democrats is a "sell out" is the democrat mind set. It is as though democrats assume that they own blacks, that blacks aren't allowed to have diverse opinions of their own. White (and black) democrats rain hell down on any black who would dare not be faithful democrats.

I was surprised that even Leo Terrell, who was until this year a loud activist democrat mouth piece, has defected and now opposes democrats. Apparently Owens' blaxit movement even made sense to him.

 

[ronburgundy]

BTW, the OP article doesn't seem to be talking about just all people who vote for Trump, even if secretly and/or while holding their nose doing so out of party loyalty. The whole set up is about those who publicly "parade" their ardent support for Trump in particular, wrapping their cult like commitment to him in a form of nationalistic pride.

There are some people who did and will quietly and/or begrudgingly vote for Trump who are not racists, even most of them do dismiss racism as a problem worth affecting their vote, which itself show a lack of empathy for its non-white victims. However, among the white enthusiastic Trump fans the OP is emphasizing, I think the overwhelming majority are racists, which includes the variants of racists I discussed in my other replies, such as evangelicals who mask their racism behind Christian identity (which is what the KKK was), nationalism, or economic conservatism that rejects racial injustice as the cause of economic inequalities. Given how obvious it is that Trump is actively fueling and promoting racism and other bigotries and the severe generations of harm this will do, it is psychologically implausible that a person could be an enthusiastic and openly proud supporter and not endorse most or all of these bigotries.

 

[marc]

Owens is a sell out, .............

That is the kind of racism promoted by the democrat party that Owens goes on about in her blaxit movement. Any black who would dare to not blindly accept and promote democrats is a "sell out".

Well what is the proper term then for someone from a minority that chooses to lie about the discrimination their group receives, willingly working with those that support the discrimination? Collaborator?

It is as though democrats assume that they own blacks,

The Democratic leadership does appear to take black people for granted. They know the choice black people face is between the racists and them, so they figure they don't have to do much. There is a difference between calling out the Democrats on their indifference and covering for the republican's outright racism. Owens does the latter.

 

[Deepak]

Owens is a sell out, .............

That is the kind of racism promoted by the democrat party that Owens goes on about in her blaxit movement. Any black who would dare to not blindly accept and promote democrats is a "sell out" is the democrat mind set. It is as though democrats assume that they own blacks, that blacks aren't allowed to have diverse opinions of their own. White (and black) democrats rain hell down on any black who would dare not be faithful democrats.

I was surprised that even Leo Terrell, who was until this year a loud activist democrat mouth piece, has defected and now opposes democrats. Apparently Owens' blaxit movement even made sense to him.

You've never heard an angsty teen refer to a band as sell outs?

The point of the claim is that she's willing to say anything that will affect her financial standing by bilking people who buy her schtick. You can't offer person X, leave the interpretation of motivation up to the responder, then take any response other than the one you want as supporting the point you're trying to make. There's no claim to argue, no point to take sides on, and specifically no opinion offered (let alone any diversity thereof). Or to put it a different way, is there any way where I'd be able to supply this argument a statement that Owens could make and see how the output is anything other than this foregone conclusion? If not then I'd offer it's a silly argument to make, a sort of shield against any criticism that doesn't pass any real scrutiny.

 

[Elixir]

FWIW I know some Trumpers who aren't racists. It's just that little things like character, integrity, honesty, freedom and superficial things like that are not as important to them as their fear of a God who will damn them to eternal torture if they should fail to support the rights of The Unborn. Even if The Unborn are microscopic zygotes that wouldn't even warrant cleaning from under their fingernails, they believe that their attitude toward those zygotes is more likely to influence the fate of their immortal soul than is their attitude toward the right of actual sentient female humans to control their own bodies.

Superstition Trumps all.

 

[Swammerdami]

Would the progressives and the blacks in the Democratic party tolerate Biden saying,

Nobody should be made to feel ashamed of being a white American. I’m not ashamed. And if ashamed is what you feel, you’ve been listening to people who don’t understand the values of the Democratic Party — because we stand for liberty and justice for all, including millions of honest, hardworking, white Americans like yourself.

With the polarized politics of today, I doubt it.

Good question. Perhaps progressives would abhor the words, but I'd think hope they'd pull the Biden lever anyway.

But SimpleDon's post is a good look at how "wokeness" has gone much too far. I used to think that, no matter how polarized politics got, the large majority of Americans were somewhere in a large and robust Middle. I'm afraid that is no longer the case.

 

[ZiprHead]

Most likely it is nonsense. You lot have been harping on about Trump supporters since November 2016 and either you still don't get it or you just repeat the tedious "orange man bad/Hitler/racist/fascist" etc, etc.

The attachment of a large part of Trump's supporters is emotional, not objective.

Says you. I'm sure they see it different.

And you can't deny Trump's authoritarian bent,

Oh give over. I have been living in perpetual lock down under the insufferable prick Gavin Newsom for the past six months. Newsom actually is an authoritarian and you lot lap that shit up with a spoon.

{snip}and his many failures to observe many of the tenets of democratic rule.

LOL, says the navel gazing weirdos that have been chasing Trump down with impeachment etc since 2016 and continue to do so.

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[Worldtraveller]

There ain't enough drugs and alcohol on the planet to even try to understand trump supporters.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

How the frig do you explain the black Trump voters?

Probably very conservative religiously.

There is only one type of Trump supporter... a person that is enamored with Trump. Other people vote for Trump, but not because they like him... they like the Christian Theocracts that are being put on the court. I'd imagine most black supporters fall under that wing of Trump voter.

The real question is why are Libertarians circle jerking while this Christian Theocracy is coming closer and closer to being galvanized in the courts. Personal choice isn't much of a Christian Theocratic thing.

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Before Trump was the nominee, right-wing AM radio people like Prager and Medved couldn't get Trump supporters to explain what they liked about Trump, as in his positions. No different today. Trump is a walking and talking Id that relates well to the right-wing Ids out there. He gets them off by playing to their Id urges.

 

[marc]

Before Trump was the nominee, right-wing AM radio people like Prager and Medved couldn't get Trump supporters to explain what they liked about Trump, as in his positions. No different today. Trump is a walking and talking Id that relates well to the right-wing Ids out there. He gets them off by playing to their Id urges.

In 2016 Marvel Comics did a mini-series Vote Loki with the villain Loki running for president. At one point a journalist pointed out in front of an audience that Loki never actually states any policy position. Two people in the audience with opposing positions on one policy both stated that they thought he was for their side. People were just projecting onto him what they wanted to see. The series also pointed out other problems, like the journalist writing a scathing article about Loki, but the editor put on it a headline that made it sound like a positive piece and few read past the headline. While it might not be the best of comics, I think it did show the mindset of some voters there.