Stop reacting to Trump with overt snobbery

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Please stop reacting to Trump with overt snobbery.

Yes, he's awful. Yes, it's frightening. Yes, it's tempting to point and laugh--and we should! But not at Trump supporters' socioeconomic status or their levels of education or their houses or their accents.

Stop calling them 'white trash'. Stop insulting their intelligence on the basis of their class. I don't remember if it was on this forum or not, but at one point I saw somebody use the word 'Trumptard'. Definitely don't say things like that.

Not only does it play into his narrative, it's also morally wrong to be prejudiced against people on these grounds.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

You're right.

Trump's incoherently patriotic appeal and tendency towards authoritarianism and irrationality would be just as bad no matter whether he spoke at a post-doc level or even worse than he does now.

Reflecting Trump's own embrace of insults and lack of empathy just empowers him.

[Sasquatch]

Democrats haven't learned their lesson from 2004.

[EliteLX]

Democrats haven't learned their lesson from 2004.

[Torie]

Yeah, but I consider it no accident, that Trump does better with folks with less education.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Yeah, but I consider it no accident, that Trump does better with folks with less education.

Of course it's not an accident. There is or at least ought to be a way to make the point that people in different socioeconomic positions are susceptible to different types of despicable rhetoric due to their different fears and insecurities without being a snob.

[Darthpi – Anti-Florida Activist]

I don't have any problem with Trump supporters based on their identities or social status, and I recognize many of them feel desperate about the state of the country.

That being said, I reserve every right to call out their lack of judgement for turning to an egomaniac conspiracy theory-promoting demagogue who is patently unqualified for office as the solution to their problems.

[RR1997]

I agree. Bashing Trump supporters for being "white-trash" and for being working-class and uneducated is immoral.

On the flip side, Trump supporters should stop attacking minorities, women, etc. They shouldn't consider calling a group of people drug dealers and rapists as 'telling it like it is' (even though immigrants commit less crimes on average than native-born citizens). 20% of them believe that we should bring back slavery.

I love it how it's a sin when we make fun of Trump supporters, yet these people can make fun of minorities as much as they want too.

[Boston Bread]

Democrats haven't learned their lesson from 2004.

The most condescending rhetoric I've heard about Trump supporters are from Republicans.

From my perspective, it's entertaining that Trump supporters are turning the GOP upside down, and policy wise it's a net neutral. I don't have anything more to fear from a Trump presidency than a Rubio one. But if you're a genuine small government conservative you're not going to have home after this happens, so it makes sense.

[Asian Nazi]

The best part of the TRUMP campaign has been him exposing hypocrites and elitists.  Sometimes he has to go after them directly, but too often these people are more than happy to expose themselves through their absurd reactions to TRUMP.

[Bigby]

It's amazing how a wealthy, WASP New York Yankee revels in exposing the snootyness and arrogance of other Yankees. I love it.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

On the flip side, Trump supporters should stop attacking minorities, women, etc. They shouldn't consider calling a group of people drug dealers and rapists as 'telling it like it is' (even though immigrants commit less crimes on average than native-born citizens). 20% of them believe that we should bring back slavery.

Well, yes, of course they're terrible, but they're not terrible because being poor and uneducated makes them inherently worthy of scorn.

[Maxwell]

It's amazing how a wealthy, WASP New York Yankee revels in exposing the snootyness and arrogance of other Yankees. I love it.

He really does follow the FDR model to a T.

[RR1997]

When Trump supporters say that they support Trump because 'he tells it like it is', they actually mean 'I am racist and so is he.'

I love it how a guy who has probably lied more than any other candidate running this year is the one that 'tells it like it is'.

[Pandaguineapig]

It's amazing how a wealthy, WASP New York Yankee revels in exposing the snootyness and arrogance of other Yankees. I love it.

He really does follow the FDR model to a T.

Except FDR didn't have early stage Alzheimer's

[afleitch]

Trump is trashy. He embraces that.

His supporters however are more nuanced.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Democrats haven't learned their lesson from 2004.

That's a British newspaper, actually.

[Darthpi – Anti-Florida Activist]

Democrats haven't learned their lesson from 2004.

That's a British newspaper, actually.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

It's tempting to think only idiots supports Trump and while there are many idiots among his electorate, that's hardly the whole picture. There are wider reasons of Trump's appeal and we should try to understand them instead dismissing them en masse as morons. I certainly consider their support misjudged, of course.

[Pandaguineapig]

It's tempting to think only idiots supports Trump and while there are many idiots among his electorate, that's hardly the whole picture. There are wider reasons of Trump's appeal and we should try to understand them instead dismissing them en masse as morons. I certainly consider their support misjudged, of course.

Go to a Trump rally, I'm guessing you won't find a single college degree amongst the filth

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

It's tempting to think only idiots supports Trump and while there are many idiots among his electorate, that's hardly the whole picture. There are wider reasons of Trump's appeal and we should try to understand them instead dismissing them en masse as morons. I certainly consider their support misjudged, of course.

Among my acquaintances who don't lean left, I'm seeing a number of people willing to ignore Trump's more offensive comments and positions in favor of "sticking it to the establishment".

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

When Trump supporters say that they support Trump because 'he tells it like it is', they actually mean 'I am racist and so is he.'

I love it how a guy who has probably lied more than any other candidate running this year is the one that 'tells it like it is'.

call them bigots? sure. call them idiots? nah.

[RR1997]

20% of them believe that we should bring back slavery.

Proof?

We just had a thread about this.
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=230250.0

[Sasquatch]

Among my acquaintances who don't lean left, I'm seeing a number of people willing to ignore Trump's more offensive comments and positions in favor of "sticking it to the establishment".

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

It's tempting to think only idiots supports Trump and while there are many idiots among his electorate, that's hardly the whole picture. There are wider reasons of Trump's appeal and we should try to understand them instead dismissing them en masse as morons. I certainly consider their support misjudged, of course.

Go to a Trump rally, I'm guessing you won't find a single college degree amongst the filth

Most of his support comes from only those with a high school education or some college, true, but there is a consistent level of support among those even with a Bachelors or even post-grad degree. You should also remember that many older voters dominate the "no/some college" numbers but are still middle class, while middle-aged voters and some younger voters with college/postgrad degrees are supporting Trump.  

This anger and anti-establishment feeling is deep in the GOP and cuts across all demographics within it.