Yes, I should correct myself. I truly do believe that the hatred for Trump is misguided and manufactured by the media who would never forgive him for beating Hillary Clinton.
I'm old enough to remember Donald Trump as a celebrity, as a businessman, and as an entertainer, and he's been once since the mid 1980s. Since that time, he's always been portrayed as a wealthy New Yorker, maybe a bit of a blowhard, but nothing more than a bon vivant. A man who enjoys the good things in life (and sometimes the good things in life are porn starlets and Playboy Playmates. It's good to be rich).
I honestly do not believe Trump has a racist bone in his body. He was smeared as a racist due to his stances on the wall and immigration, positions that are actually widely popular among voters of both parties.
Unfortunately, and this reflects back to my complaint that Trump failed to defend himself, these charges stuck.
A massive number of Americans believe Trump is a white nationalist racist. Of course, if you ask them why they cannot articulate it. They'll mutter platitudes about his wall and immigration crackdowns. Or maybe because the Proud Boys liked him.
There was a massive failure in messaging. Trump let the media, and his enemies define him. Unfortunately, a significant measure of the electorate would accept this new narrative and calibrate in their mind the man they believe Donald Trump to be.
Again, we agree with an exception: It is impossible to defend yourself or fight back if one does not listen. Trump did fight back, to no avail.
Bottom line, nothing was going to change the narrative. They have used it on others, ‘granny over the cliff’, ‘idiot Bush’, etc. For decades, messaging on every radio station, tv show and classroom is that the Republicans are evil. Republicans say/do nothing. You know that. To be fair, if one is treated fairly most of their life and suddenly most messaging tells the world you are the devil - aside from shocking, it’s a battle that can’t be won.
As John Adams said, the constitution only works in a moral society. Likewise for the messaging issue.
I believe those in power (uniparty) hated Trump because he had devoted followers much like a rock band. Politicians never have that with the exception of Obama. Partly, they were jealous but the bigger issue was Trump running on things they wanted no part of. The old way of campaigning was to lie to voters and fall in line after elected. Trump meant what he said and the voters were very engaged after the election. This meant that DC was being watched, paid attention to. That’s their biggest fear.
One caveat, had they not started russia russia day one, Trump would not have been the martyr which only made voters more engaged and more devoted. They made the connection between Trump and voters more permanent with each attack month after month. The stronger the connection, the more the uniparty hated him (us).
I’m sure you’ve interacted with folks with opposing views. How often do they actually listen? Do they respond to ‘proven facts’ by acknowledging the facts and changing their mind? My experience…..no and no. When folks are wearing a mask while alone in a car - independent and critical thinking does not exist. And 75% of America are in that category. It’s popular to be a democrat, not a republican. It’s always been that way.
All done and said, we must acknowledge that the majority of people that vote know very very very little about the person they are voting for. They may watch a few commercials or focus on one key issue and that’s it. Think of the midterms and those that won - namely Fetterman, a vegetable. Millions watched Dr. Oz for years who was well liked by squishy uneducated and self absorbed women (democrats). They voted for the vegetable instead of the man they took advice from and admired. Why? Because the messaging since the 50’s has been, Republicans are evil and nothing was done about it.
I knew very little about Trump. I jumped on board the first day because of his list of things he would do. When every other politician said those were things that shouldn’t or couldn’t be done, I was even more on board. When he didn’t cave or change his mind, more on onboard. I knew he had an ego. I saw that as a bonus because - his ego wouldn’t allow him to fail, meaning he would do what he said. He never changed his mind - and the party never embraced those ideas. That’s all I need to know.
Trump will lose, DeSantis will lose and the country will continue to decline as it has for decades. Trump sacrificed a great deal. I’m grateful for what he did for America, mainly exposing the corruption. And without another Trump type, DC will never change. It’s a lost cause…..