Everywhere you turn this week you’re reading and hearing about a Donald Trump presidency in a free fall, in turmoil, in disarray. It’s as though the media which can’t get enough of this guy also can’t get enough of piling on him at the same time.
First let me state — no Donald Trump apologist am I. Does he say things that sometimes should be left unsaid? Yes. Is he extremely blunt? Yes. Does he tweet too much? Yes. But, here’s something I learned since his election victory in 2016 — and all the Donald Trump haters need to grasp this, too.
The folks who have been with Trump from the beginning don’t give a damn what you or your “protectors of democracy,” also known as the media, think about him or them. In fact, you probably never understood or cared to know who they were from the start.
You didn’t create Donald Trump. You didn’t understand, legitimize, or even entertain the man as standing a chance when he declared his candidacy. You still don’t grasp that his breaking with tradition, convention, and even social and political etiquette doesn’t matter to millions of Americans. In fact, you don’t — maybe can’t — understand that it’s why they love him.
Finally, you don’t understand that all the snarky, dismissive, “isn’t he embarrassing” eye rolling you’re doing in your daily conversation only galvanizes his support.
The incalculable variables of this impeachment trial make my head spin, and genuinely frighten those in media and traditional politics, horrified by the prospects of another four years of a Trump administration. Simply because he won an election they felt belonged to them.
We will simply never know how many millions will sit out this election to protest Trump or their own party. We’ll never know how many vote third party. Maybe millions.
But here’s what else we don’t know.
How many will vote for Trump and never admit it aloud? How many will finally take the time to vote for Trump after having sat it out for multiple election cycles because this economy has improved their financial situation? How many people connect with Donald Trump even though you may find him objectionable in every way?
I have a feeling there are millions of them, too. Perhaps millions more than can be estimated.
The passion for Trump is as intense for many as the blind faith and trust millions had for Obama when guys like me shook their heads in disbelief in 2008 and 2012.
To me, it comes down to an understanding of the genuine working class of this country. Not pencil pushers, or bean counters, or middle managers.
There is a demographic, or class, or group of Americans who relate to Donald Trump on a deeply personal level. And there’s more of them than I, and people like me really take the time to consider.
There are certain jobs where every single day involves physically challenging work with other tough-minded people. Steeled by their jobs, they wake up knowing they will earn every penny of their money. They aren’t working to “fulfill themselves” or “find their passion” in life. They’re working to live.
Just going to work requires a certain mindset. It starts with their head pounding or body aching when their alarm goes off. To which they exclaim, “here we go again.” If you work in one of these fields (construction, for example) long enough, it changes you. You feel confident in yourself for good reason. Nothing comes easy. You show up to work every day and do your job.
Many of these people talk like Donald Trump talks. They might seem overly enthusiastic, angry, or yes, even “vulgar.”
It’s a by-product of their job and you have to have worked in it to truly understand it. Pajama boys, media types, and academics won’t ever really understand this.
These people are often incredibly loyal, too. Maybe a bit like sharing a foxhole. There’s a deep bond among them. They have shared experiences. They “strap it on” every day and fight until the whistle blows. They don’t let anyone bully, take advantage or in any way emasculate them.
Donald Trump is a billionaire who talks and acts like these people I’m describing. He can be funny, crass, occasionally get his tail kicked, maybe even embarrass himself by saying “the wrong thing.” But then, he gets back up and brings it the next day. Wholly unapologetic and never internalizing what anyone else might think.
Trump has created a bond with the millions of people in this country I’m describing. And there are millions. In fact, I dare say it’s most working Americans. This bond or connection with Trump can’t be broken because Trump is attitudinally one of them and they are Trump. They won’t give up on him. That would be the equivalent of giving up on themselves.
I know plenty of people who find Trump embarrassing, dangerous, ill-suited for the job, ideologically direction-less, a Democrat in disguise, and on and on and on. I’ve been guilty of tossing some of that his way myself in the past.
But I’ve given up trying to explain him to people who refuse to view any opposing train of thought as sufficient. Those who support him don’t really care what you or media think. Trump is a champion to millions of everyday Americans and he seems to connect with who they are.
That may make you exclaim, “How is that possible? How could anyone support this guy?”
Maybe it’s time you tried to understand who these millions of Americans are and less time looking down your nose at their candidate of choice.
I have no idea if there are enough of them to give Trump a victory once again in November. But I do know there are many millions of them the political parties, media, and perhaps you don’t care to acknowledge.
That might say a whole lot more about you and them than about Trump and those who support him. So enjoy your impeachment play. The trial might make way for a temporary high of power, but come November the American citizens will have their chance to impeach the same people who have spent four years dragging their fighter through the mud.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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