# Donald Trump: the least hateful and bigoted candidate (in one area) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 10, 2016, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-the-least-hateful-and-bigoted-candidate-in-one-area/754461 "2016-05-10T03:16:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-the-least-hateful-and-bigoted-candidate-in-one-area/754461/1 "2016-05-10T03:16:36Z")
For many people, watching Donald Trump become a presidential nominee from a major party is rather like waking up one day to find that mountains are floating several miles up in midair, that dogs now walk on two legs, or that rain falls upwards rather than downwards. It’s like some part of accepted reality that had always been true and predictable before has suddenly turned into the exact opposite of what it once was. This leads to a vast number of explanations of the Trump phenomenon. A _vast_ number of clever people telling us that they have discovered the key that explains why so many voters did something that nobody predicted. Of course, none of these key-holders explained the Trump phenomenon before it happened, only after. (That includes the author of this post.) Generally most of the explanations fit in two main camps. There’s the hostile camp (“They’re a bunch of dumb racists and bigots!”) and the condescending camp (“They’re upset about wage stagnation, income inequality, and a broken political system, which we should be sympathetic to, even though they’re channeling their frustrations in a bad way.”) And many point out that Trump’s appeal is heavily emotional and a bit light on policy detail. But there’s one point that I haven’t seen anyone make. It relates to a fact about modern American politics. In the primary process, everyone cares about just the first two states to vote, Iowa and New Hampshire, for months. In the general election, there’s a predictable handful of “swing states”, where the candidates spend almost all their time and money. Thus the great majority of states and voters are totally ignored by the presidential candidates. Trump took advantage of this. While his opponents camped out in Iowa and New Hampshire, he visited places like Vermont, upstate New York, Texas, South Dakota, and Kentucky. Within those states, many of his rallies were in rural, town, or small city areas. It’s easy to see why some people, who haven’t seen a live presidential candidate within fifty miles for decades, would be happy to get some lovin’ for once. But beyond merely appearing in places where the other candidates don’t go, Trump took advantage of the attitudes that the candidates have towards certain states, such as Hillary [saying](http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/10/hillary_clinton_alabama_remain.html#incart_river_mobileshort) that “Alabama is living through a blast from the Jim Crow past” or Ted Cruz’s [discourse](http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/07/politics/ted-cruz-new-york-values/) on “New York values”. Those comments are hateful and intended to be. A Democrat has nothing to lose by bashing Alabama and a Republican has no downside to attacking New York, as far as the general election is concerned. But the mainstream media and many others have a schizophrenic relationship with hatred. Hate a race or ethnic group and they get the vapors, hate a state or region of the country and they don’t care. But Trump saw opportunity. He defended New York against Ted Cruz in a primary debate, and one feels that, if called to do so, he would happily pour out praise on Alabama, Vermont, eastern Kentucky, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, San Francisco, North Dakota, the upper peninsula of Michigan, or any other place in the country. And it’s also not hard to see why some people would be drawn to a candidate who embraces all fifty states rather than splitting the country into red and blue halves and trying to whip up hatred for one of those halves. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-the-least-hateful-and-bigoted-candidate-in-one-area/754461/2 "2016-05-10T07:02:39Z")
Good one. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-the-least-hateful-and-bigoted-candidate-in-one-area/754461/3 "2016-05-10T07:55:48Z")
Trump is also better on gay and transgender issues than most Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-the-least-hateful-and-bigoted-candidate-in-one-area/754461/4 "2016-05-10T10:13:31Z")
As a vegan I was gratified to note he insists on catering for vegetarian, vegan and other special/religious dietary need in all his resorts and establishments. This is far far more than most British hotels and restaurants do, and Britain has a much greater proportion of vegetarians than the USA, although not as much as Germany or Italy, or of course, India. ( Weirdly Indian restaurants have fewer options for non-meat-eaters than regular restaurants in Great Britain. ) Of course old Bill Clinton is a vegan, but he only did it to prolong his life and not snuff it, after his heart stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-the-least-hateful-and-bigoted-candidate-in-one-area/754461/5 "2016-05-10T10:41:30Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Trump is also better on gay and transgender issues than most Republicans. To be fair, that’s a pretty low bar. But credit where it’s due. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-the-least-hateful-and-bigoted-candidate-in-one-area/754461/6 "2016-05-10T11:24:13Z")
Good observation. Perhaps a lack of regional animus is part of being a successful land developer – you gotta love ANY place that can potentially make you $$. It means ignoring common prejudices about regions and places, and just doing the math to find development opportunities. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-the-least-hateful-and-bigoted-candidate-in-one-area/754461/7 "2016-05-10T11:29:17Z")
When it comes to business he has no record of aniimus of any sort. He never had a problem doing business with Univision. His statements may be hateful, but his deeds are actually better than the Clintons’ in that regard. They ramped up the war on drugs, increased deportations, and favored mass incarceration. Donald Trump didn’t do any of that. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-the-least-hateful-and-bigoted-candidate-in-one-area/754461/8 "2016-05-10T11:49:16Z")
When did “the Clintons” become a candidate? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-the-least-hateful-and-bigoted-candidate-in-one-area/754461/9 "2016-05-10T11:56:31Z")
“His statements may be hateful, but…” Hateful statements are a very big thing for me. And a LOT of others too. (That you can just gloss over them, as of little real import, says a lot about you, I think. ) Slice it and dice it any way you need, so you can swallow it, but don’t assume others will also find it palatable. With any amount of excuse making! ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-the-least-hateful-and-bigoted-candidate-in-one-area/754461/10 "2016-05-10T12:14:30Z")
This is maybe a drop compared to the flood that is the racial/ethnic/religious animus he’s latching onto. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-the-least-hateful-and-bigoted-candidate-in-one-area/754461/11 "2016-05-10T12:43:55Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > When did “the Clintons” become a candidate? “Two for the price of one.” So about 1992. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-the-least-hateful-and-bigoted-candidate-in-one-area/754461/12 "2016-05-10T12:46:12Z")
How is Trump encouraging his supporters to hate Muslims and Mexicans any different than Cruz talking about New York or Clinton talking about Alabama? Trump is all about whipping up hate, as you put it. He’s just got a different group voting for him and different targets. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-the-least-hateful-and-bigoted-candidate-in-one-area/754461/13 "2016-05-10T13:10:04Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > How is Trump encouraging his supporters to hate Muslims and Mexicans any different than Cruz talking about New York or Clinton talking about Alabama? Trump is all about whipping up hate, as you put it. He’s just got a different group voting for him and different targets. Without a cite to hand for Clinton’s remark I can’t say for sure, but ISTR Clinton was _reacting to_ hatred in Alabama (the land of Roy Moore, remember) against homosexuals. That’s different to Trump’s sallies against Mexicans and Muslims. What was Cruz’s reason for mentioning New York beyond Trump’s association with it? ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-the-least-hateful-and-bigoted-candidate-in-one-area/754461/14 "2016-05-10T15:08:15Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > His statements may be hateful, but his deeds are actually better than the Clintons’ in that regard. They ramped up the war on drugs, increased deportations, and favored mass incarceration. Donald Trump didn’t do any of that. I was not aware that Trump had an opportunity to ramp up the war on drugs, increase deportations, and favor mass incarceration, but declined. Given the opportunity, has he pledged to draw down the war on drugs, reduce deportations (ha!) and reduce America’s prison population? Otherwise, your comparison doesn’t make sense. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-the-least-hateful-and-bigoted-candidate-in-one-area/754461/15 "2016-05-10T15:30:53Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > His statements may be hateful, but his deeds are actually better than the Clintons’ in that regard. They ramped up the war on drugs, increased deportations, and favored mass incarceration. Donald Trump didn’t do any of that. Let’s all work together to protect his legacy by not giving him any opportunities. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-the-least-hateful-and-bigoted-candidate-in-one-area/754461/16 "2016-05-10T18:11:41Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Without a cite to hand for Clinton’s remark I can’t say for sure, but ISTR Clinton was _reacting to_ hatred in Alabama (the land of Roy Moore, remember) against homosexuals. That’s different to Trump’s sallies against Mexicans and Muslims. What was Cruz’s reason for mentioning New York beyond Trump’s association with it? The remark is in the linked editorial that Clinton wrote (bolded below): > [@](#): > > Governor Bentley is insisting that the closings had nothing to do with race, but the facts tell a different story. Fifty years after Rosa Parks sat, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. marched, and John Lewis bled, it’s hard to believe Americans are still forced to fight for their right to vote—especially in places where the civil rights movement fought so hard all those years ago. The parallels are inescapable: **Alabama is living through a blast from the Jim Crow past.** > > Governor Bentley has offered the same excuses we’ve always heard to justify laws that disproportionately affect people of color—or, for that matter, low-income people, women, young people, and seniors. It reminds me of that old saying: “You find a turtle on a fence post, it didn’t get there on its own.” Institutionalized racism doesn’t just happen. People make it happen. > > But for every Republican governor working to dismantle voting rights across our country, there are Americans determined to keep marching forward. I’m proud of everyone in Alabama who leapt to confront this injustice. The outcry has been so strong, it’s forced politicians in Montgomery to reconsider. Governor Bentley and the legislature should listen to their constituents. Those offices should stay open – and not just one day a month. It’s clearly not hate towards Alabama, just towards some backwards policies in Alabama. I’ve seen a lot of hateful comments from liberals about the south, and after Alabama or somewhere else has some backwards law or conservatives do something, how the rest of the US should just forget about that state. As someone living in Texas, I definitely remember hearing that about Texas when we make the news for a backwards law or something said by one of our backwards politicians. Clinton’s remark is nothing like that. I saw Cruz’s remark was to basically to say how liberal New Yorkers are, and paint Trump as not being conservative enough. I didn’t really see it as hateful, but it seems that New Yorkers certainly did. Also, while Trump might not have camped out in New Hampshire, [he didn’t exactly avoid it either:](http://time.com/4211569/donald-trump-new-hampshire-ted-cruz-ground-game/) > [@](#): > > The Trump forces are scrambling to catch up. The nerve center of its effort is a drab second-floor suite in a Manchester office building, above a physical-therapy shop and a satellite office of Americans for Prosperity, the Koch-backed political outfit whose New Hampshire branch was formerly run by Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s buzz-cut campaign manager. (“Do your job,” reads a written exhortation, attributed to Lewandowski, in campaign headquarters.) > > On Saturday afternoon, about 20 people sat at rows of gray plastic tables, making phone calls beneath framed black-and-white photos of Trump. The boss had dropped by to pay his respects a few days before. “It was electric,” says Malcolm McGaugh, a volunteer from West Hartford, Conn., who is part of a cadre of Nutmeg Staters who have been calling New Hampshire voters. “You can do it while you’re watching TV,” he says. > > McGough said he had made more than 1,000 calls the day before, and the campaign is busy searching for more conscripts like him. In an email to supporters in Mid-Atlantic states this week, it encouraged volunteers to visit New Hampshire and “be boots on the ground,” advertising “deployment benefits” like free lodging and meals, the possibility of paid travel expenses, “bragging rights” and the prospect of proximity to Trump himself. Trump didn’t spend as much time in Iowa or New Hampshire, and did spend more time in other states leading up to the primaries. But I don’t think that’s what won him everything, or makes him less bigoted, his is just a different candidacy in general and so usual rules don’t exactly apply to him. It’s not like if Kasich or Rubio had tried his strategy that they’d be the leader now. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-the-least-hateful-and-bigoted-candidate-in-one-area/754461/17 "2016-05-10T18:52:21Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > … And it’s also not hard to see why some people would be drawn to a candidate who embraces all fifty states rather than splitting the country into red and blue halves and trying to whip up hatred for one of those halves. Trump also [loves the poorly educated](http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/watch-trump-brag-about-uneducated-voters-the-hispanics-20160224). Well, unless the poorly educated happen to be Mexican or Muslim, in which case Trump is going to kick their ass clear over to Tijuana or all the way back to Mecca, as the case may be. The man is positively a walking love fest. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-the-least-hateful-and-bigoted-candidate-in-one-area/754461/18 "2016-05-10T19:16:02Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > When it comes to business he has no record of aniimus of any sort. Huffpo, 2011: Donald Trump Was Once Sued By Justice Department For Not Renting To Blacks > **[Trump Once Sued By Feds For Not Renting To Blacks](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-blacks-lawsuit_n_855553)** > > Trump Once Sued By Feds For Not Renting To Blacks [INDENT][INDENT]The [1973] case alleged that the Trump Management Corporation had discriminated against blacks who wished to rent apartments in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. The government charged the corporation with quoting different rental terms and conditions to blacks and whites and lying to blacks that apartments were not available, according to reports of the lawsuit. [/INDENT][/INDENT] More: [Timeline: Donald Trump has been getting called racist since 1973 | Vox](http://www.vox.com/2015/8/3/9089495/donald-trump-racist) ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-the-least-hateful-and-bigoted-candidate-in-one-area/754461/19 "2016-05-10T21:02:39Z")
Trump would probably say something like: “I don’t hate blacks, I love them, they’re great people. But let’s face it, they’re mostly criminals and they lower property values, that’s just a fact.” If you heard that, do you think he’s hateful or just telling a forbidden truth? The conservatives holding their nose and supporting him seem to fall on the latter, because conservatives themselves have taken that tactic for the past few decades and made it their strategy. Those who are true Trump supporters seem to be the former, with the stipulation that they don’t care he’s hateful because they mirror their thoughts. This is the choice the GOP has this time. Open bigotry and exposing their lies, or continued parsing to woo both sides. I hope they fail in whatever they try ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-the-least-hateful-and-bigoted-candidate-in-one-area/754461/20 "2016-05-10T22:38:52Z")
lf Trump loses the general election, let’s see what he sort of comments he makes about crucial states that go to Clinton. Remember how he [freaked out when he lost in Iowa](https://newrepublic.com/minutes/123606/how-stupid-are-the-people-of-iowa-asks-donald-trump)? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-the-least-hateful-and-bigoted-candidate-in-one-area/754461.md?page=2)