gracchusdixit

Twenty four hours ago, Hillary Clinton described what she estimated to be half of Donald Trump’s supporters as a “basket of deplorables,” because of their racism, sexism, and xenophobia.  Donald Trump promptly attacked her—by Tweet, of course—for “insulting millions of amazing hardworking Americans.”  She has since apologized.

To all of which I say: rubbish!  Rather than apologizing, Secretary Clinton should have “doubled down,” as Trump himself so routinely does. It’s about time somebody called out his supporters for their toxic opinions and often brutish behavior.

One of the hallmarks of Donald Trump’s Presidential campaign has been the claim—usually bellowed in a tone hovering between bravado and belligerence—that he “tells it like it is,” without regard for the constraints of “political correctness,” let alone common courtesy.

Well, then, let us take Mr. Trump at his word and say a few politically incorrect things, not only about the candidate himself but about the people who so fervently support him and what now passes for the Republican Party.

Since the day a year ago when “the Donald” rode down the escalator at Trump Tower to proclaim his candidacy, vast quantities of journalistic ink and time have been spilled and spent trying to explain, or excuse, the thinking and behavior of Trump’s “base.”  We have been told that their deplorable behavior is the result of social and economic disenfranchisement, that global capitalism has left them behind, that they have been neglected or ignored by political and financial elites, that the demography of the country is changing in ways that understandably stir their anxieties.  We have also been admonished that their long-ignored anxieties must now be attended to, if the Republican Party, or even the nation, is to survive.  We have, in short, been asked to empathize with Trump’s supporters, on the grounds that their anxieties are in some sense “legitimate,” even if we disagree with them.

This argument is poppycock.  Indeed, it amounts to a new form of political correctness, one that coddles a tranche of American society that wants to scapegoat others for their problems, particularly vulnerable minorities and immigrants, who have had nothing whatever to do with causing their so-called problems.

To legitimize the Republicans who support Donald Trump is to ignore the politically incorrect reality that a large swath of them are blatant bigots: either racists or sexists or both.  Their hatred of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and anyone who doesn’t look like themselves is so venomous and all-consuming that they are incapable of seeing how bigoted they truly are.

The self-pity of Trump’s supporters is preposterous.  As pitiless as the global economy undoubtedly is, Trump supporters are doing far better than the people they scapegoat and demonize.  The median income of native-born U.S. citizens is 35 percent higher than the income of immigrants.  White Americans earn 43 percent more than Hispanics and 67 percent more than blacks.  Men are paid 38 percent more than women, and white men, specifically, are by far the highest paid demographic group in the country.  If life for these people isn’t quite as pampered and idyllic as it was in the 1950s, all I can say is: it’s about time.

Furthermore, to excuse or empathize with these people is to ignore their willful ignorance.  Trump lies to them every day.  He states as fact things that are not factual in the least.  He makes promises that he hasn’t the slightest chance, or intention, of keeping.  He paints a vainglorious picture himself that doesn’t remotely resemble reality.  He is not a billionaire or even vaguely close.  His business successes pale in comparison with his colossal failures.  His claim to be a world-class negotiator is a sham designed to sell books, contradicted by his record.  Despite all that, Trump’s supporters greet his lies, false promises, and shameless self-promotion with hoots and hollers of glee.

There is no excusing this self-deception.  Indeed, the only mistake Hillary Clinton made was to underestimate the dimensions of the “basket of deplorables.”  Large majorities of Trump supporters believe that our President is a Muslim and wasn’t born in the United States, that all Muslims should be banned from entering the country and those already here should be subjected to special scrutiny because of their religion, that evolution is a fraud, and so on.  In the age of Google and Wikipedia, you don’t need a PhD to check the facts; all you need is curiosity, an open mind, and the click of a mouse.  Trump’s supporters, and most Republicans, are too intellectually lazy even for that.

Insofar as these people have real problems, they also have real political choices.  Nothing compels them to embrace a bully as their savior and a con man as their candidate.  When he betrays them, as he inevitably will if he is elected, he will also do irreparable damage to the country.  There is no justifying the irresponsible choice his supporters are making.  They do not deserve a shred of empathy or sympathy.  Their opinions and behavior are not merely “deplorable,” they are despicable.  The sooner we acknowledge this politically incorrect truth, the better.  It is time, to quote Donald J. Trump, to “tell it like it is.”