# I am SERIOUSLY WORRIED that these riots are going to get Trump re-elected **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 26, 2020, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-seriously-worried-that-these-riots-are-going-to-get-trump-re-elected/919092 "2020-08-26T20:53:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [August 27, 2020, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-seriously-worried-that-these-riots-are-going-to-get-trump-re-elected/919092/21 "2020-08-27T00:12:39Z")
We had riots in 1968. The result was Lyndon Johnson decided he couldn’t even run for re-election. That’s the reality; this is Trump’s watch and he gets the blame. Some people are going to say the riots are Trump’s fault. Others are going to say Trump hasn’t been able to stop them. Either way, Trump isn’t going to be able to sell the idea that America should have another four years of this. ---
**Author:** ![SpecialFormulaFood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SpecialFormulaFood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpecialFormulaFood)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-seriously-worried-that-these-riots-are-going-to-get-trump-re-elected/919092/22 "2020-08-27T00:12:46Z")
I am with you. As I listened to excerpts from the RNC I found myself thinking: yeah! I agree! At least that was the reflexive, non-critical thinker side of my brain, the part that sincerely hates the crime, the riots and unrest. Of course the thinking liberal in me knows it can’t be blamed on Democrats, but the fact that I’d even experience any kind of favorable reaction suggests that former Trump voters who weren’t sure they would choose him this go-round may be moved to chose him now in response to this rhetoric. I am scared. I am disgusted. I’m also considering a starting the immigration paperwork to Canada. ---
**Author:** ![SpecialFormulaFood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SpecialFormulaFood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpecialFormulaFood)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-seriously-worried-that-these-riots-are-going-to-get-trump-re-elected/919092/23 "2020-08-27T00:13:47Z")
All I can hope for is that the democrats have an excellent marketing strategy team. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2020, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-seriously-worried-that-these-riots-are-going-to-get-trump-re-elected/919092/24 "2020-08-27T00:16:51Z")
> [@SpecialFormulaFood](#): > > At least that was the reflexive, non-critical thinker side of my brain, the part that sincerely hates the crime, the riots and unrest. That only makes sense while Trump is shouting in your ear. But Biden is going to point out that we didn’t have crime, riots, and unrest when the Democrats were running the country. Then the people who are scared of crime, riots, and unrest will decide to vote against Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-seriously-worried-that-these-riots-are-going-to-get-trump-re-elected/919092/25 "2020-08-27T00:37:25Z")
I think part of the conflict being expressed in this thread is the idea of having to pander to racists, or racist sensibilities, for a greater good. That’s not necessarily what’s being advocated, but I think that’s why the idea rankles with some, even the OP. Because of course liberals would find the idea of a white majority saying to the black community, “ugh, just shut up about police brutality and killings so that Trump can lose already, because we don’t want to drive away the somewhat racist voters; we’ll figure out the police thing later, pinky swear” to be repugnant. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-seriously-worried-that-these-riots-are-going-to-get-trump-re-elected/919092/26 "2020-08-27T00:41:55Z")
Well, believe me, that is the same as how my Sanders-supporting friends - the really extreme ones who still haven’t reconciled to Biden, so really only a small handful - have been expressing _their_ grievances, or more accurately, what they view as the handwaving away as such by mainstream Democrats. Just substitute whatever Bernie talking points you want, in place of “police brutality.” They’re like, “we’re NOT going to compromise our principles just to help Biden win…we hate Biden…he’s the problem.” Not something I agree with, but there you have it. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-seriously-worried-that-these-riots-are-going-to-get-trump-re-elected/919092/27 "2020-08-27T00:44:43Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > I know it’s asking the impossible for people NOT to protest when something like the Blake incident in Wisconsin occurs, so I’m really not trying to issue some kind of ethical condemnation against the protest organizers. Tell ya what. How about we stop having something like the Blake incident, and then the protest will stop. And if your reply is that you cannot control the police and get them to stop killing black people, then I ask you this: why do you think that Biden et al have any more control over the civilians who object to that treatment? ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-seriously-worried-that-these-riots-are-going-to-get-trump-re-elected/919092/28 "2020-08-27T00:47:18Z")
And that’s how I would have felt about it too if the risk of Trump getting re-elected weren’t so dire. COVID is a game changer. This isn’t “I want the Democrats in charge because I’m a Democrat” anymore. This is “we need someone to stop this virus”, and right now the only way for that to happen is for Trump to lose. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-seriously-worried-that-these-riots-are-going-to-get-trump-re-elected/919092/29 "2020-08-27T00:58:13Z")
I would say that as a black person in these cities, you probably have far more to worry about from the police than from Covid. I don’t know that asking them to wait until we are ready and comfortable to address their problems is entirely reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-seriously-worried-that-these-riots-are-going-to-get-trump-re-elected/919092/30 "2020-08-27T01:00:48Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > I would say that as a black person in these cities, you probably have far more to worry about from the police than from Covid. Not to minimize the serious issues facing these people, but this cannot possibly be true. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-seriously-worried-that-these-riots-are-going-to-get-trump-re-elected/919092/31 "2020-08-27T01:04:37Z")
That is the perception. In fact, if you’re black fleeing the police is almost a rational act. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-seriously-worried-that-these-riots-are-going-to-get-trump-re-elected/919092/32 "2020-08-27T01:09:07Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > I think part of the conflict being expressed in this thread is the idea of having to pander to racists, or racist sensibilities, for a greater good. That’s not necessarily what’s being advocated, but I think that’s why the idea rankles with some, even the OP. Because of course liberals would find the idea of a white majority saying to the black community, “ugh, just shut up about police brutality and killings so that Trump can lose already, because we don’t want to drive away the somewhat racist voters; we’ll figure out the police thing later, pinky swear” to be repugnant. I don’t see anyone advocating for this. But why isn’t it worth asking why protests must continue at night–when nighttime gives cover for false flaggers to commit violence–violence that can easily be blamed on the BLM and other anti-authoritarian protesters? If the answer is that protesters who go home at night will return to find their protest-area has been fenced off–so what? Cities are big. A large and impressive daytime peaceful protest can occur almost anywhere that’s public. March down a major street or across a bridge or in front of a new police station every day. Show the huge numbers of people who believe that police violence must stop. Effective protest and messaging CAN take place during daylight hours. And the bonus is that such protest gives the fascists no footage they can use to scare voters into supporting fascism. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2020, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-seriously-worried-that-these-riots-are-going-to-get-trump-re-elected/919092/33 "2020-08-27T01:12:18Z")
It’s absolutely astounding to me that the Trump cadre could somehow try to blame Democrats for the protests and riots that are happening _ **on his watch** _ and which he very clearly had a role in exacerbating by promoting white supremacy and racism. It’s just an incredible twisting of facts and Orwellian rewriting of history – as befits a wannabe dictator – and if many voters actually fall for it, there is no hope for this country or any prospect of it being able to govern itself. There are currently no fewer than three major immediate issues plaguing the country, and many chronic ongoing ones. The three immediate ones are the horrific, callous, and utterly incompetent mismanagement of the COVID crisis, the police shootings and protests, and so far the most active hurricane season on record. As a sort of backdrop to all three plagues are the ongoing gun violence in America, the inadequacy of health care for millions of Americans, systemic racism, and other aspects of the climate crisis like the California wildfires. Each of these apocalyptic plagues – every single one, without exception – has been substantially worsened by Trump’s idiotic policies, concerned only with greed and narcissism. They really should be featured in a documentary called something like “Welcome to Trump’s America”, linking each one of those horrors to Trumps’s stupidity, racism, boundless greed, self-aggrandizement, and the absolute denial of facts and science. The world hardly knows whether to laugh at Trump’s America or pity it. MAGA indeed. That there is anyone left at all, anywhere, who would still vote for him is just amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-seriously-worried-that-these-riots-are-going-to-get-trump-re-elected/919092/34 "2020-08-27T01:27:42Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > It’s absolutely astounding to me that the Trump cadre could somehow try to blame Democrats for the protests and riots that are happening _ **on his watch** _ and which he very clearly had a role in exacerbating by promoting white supremacy and racism. It’s just an incredible twisting of facts and Orwellian rewriting of history – as befits a wannabe dictator – and if many voters actually fall for it, there is no hope for this country or any prospect of it being able to govern itself. Look, we humans are a highly malleable, suggestible breed. Nobody is immune to the influence of bad ideas. Trumpism is nothing compared to some of the movements that people have gotten behind in earlier eras - and yet people managed to move onwards and upwards. America will too. The question is, will it be after 200,000 people have died of a virus, or 2,000,000? Or more? That’s all that needs to be focused on at _this_ moment in time. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-seriously-worried-that-these-riots-are-going-to-get-trump-re-elected/919092/35 "2020-08-27T01:33:46Z")
Wait, what has he done (or not done) about the hurricane season? I haven’t heard about that. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-seriously-worried-that-these-riots-are-going-to-get-trump-re-elected/919092/36 "2020-08-27T01:40:41Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > > [@Leaper](#): > > > > I think part of the conflict being expressed in this thread is the idea of having to pander to racists, or racist sensibilities, for a greater good. That’s not necessarily what’s being advocated, but I think that’s why the idea rankles with some, even the OP. Because of course liberals would find the idea of a white majority saying to the black community, “ugh, just shut up about police brutality and killings so that Trump can lose already, because we don’t want to drive away the somewhat racist voters; we’ll figure out the police thing later, pinky swear” to be repugnant. > > I don’t see anyone advocating for this. > > But why isn’t it worth asking why protests must continue at night–when nighttime gives cover for false flaggers to commit violence–violence that can easily be blamed on the BLM and other anti-authoritarian protesters? > > If the answer is that protesters who go home at night will return to find their protest-area has been fenced off–so what? Cities are big. A large and impressive daytime peaceful protest can occur almost anywhere that’s public. March down a major street or across a bridge or in front of a new police station every day. Show the huge numbers of people who believe that police violence must stop. > > Effective protest and messaging CAN take place during daylight hours. And the bonus is that such protest gives the fascists no footage they can use to scare voters into supporting fascism. Just a guess, but maybe lots of protesters have day jobs. You can schedule a protest for mid-day, but it might really gather steam as more protesters get off work and join in. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-seriously-worried-that-these-riots-are-going-to-get-trump-re-elected/919092/37 "2020-08-27T01:42:08Z")
Why’s that? Covid is some nebulous thing, one that Biden has no guarantee of stopping. Hopefully he will do a better job than Trump, but a viable vaccine is going to happen with either president, and that’s the only way this really stops. For every black person killed, dozens are assaulted and/or wrongfully prosecuted. For everyone assaulted and/or wrongfully prosecuted, dozens are denigrated and dehumanized. Were I a black man in any of these cities, I would very rightly be more concerned about the police than about a virus. To ask that person to stop fighting back against this mistreatment, in order to keep white people from being scared of black people, does seem to me to be extremely tone deaf at best. And, as I said, lets say that Biden comes out and says, “Hey, black people, stop protesting, you are making me look bad, and that could let Trump win.” Do you think that that would actually have any effect? Why don’t the republicans ask the police to stop killing unarmed black people, doesn’t that make them look bad? Personally, I don’t think that the protests are really going to drive anyone away that wasn’t already looking for a reason to go. And to ask black people to just wait just a little bit longer, as we have asked them time and time again, before we address the problems that are put upon them, does not seem to be a thing that would make democrats look any better. Democrats do rely on the black vote, and if I were a black voter being told that my needs of not being terrorized by the police needed to be deprioritized to keep white people from being uncomfortable, I wouldn’t put that much effort into coming out to support the democrats. Do you really think that more white moderates will be driven away by protests than black and other minorities would be by being abandoned? ---
**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:** [August 27, 2020, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-seriously-worried-that-these-riots-are-going-to-get-trump-re-elected/919092/38 "2020-08-27T01:43:54Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Wait, what has he done (or not done) about the hurricane season? I haven’t heard about that.   In terms of specifics, the usual mismanagement in which everything he touches turns to shit, like screwing over Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. In fact his preferred solution after the devastation [was to try to sell the dump](https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/12/politics/trump-puerto-rico-hurricane-maria/index.html). But I was thinking more of his concerted climate change denial, which is contributing to warmer ocean surface temperatures and stronger and more damaging North Atlantic hurricanes, as well as increased sea level rise and stronger storm surges. The US is the only country in the world to have pulled out of the broad global consesus of the Paris climate accord. . ---
**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:** [August 27, 2020, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-seriously-worried-that-these-riots-are-going-to-get-trump-re-elected/919092/39 "2020-08-27T01:53:57Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > > [@wolfpup](#): > > > > It’s absolutely astounding to me that the Trump cadre could somehow try to blame Democrats for the protests and riots that are happening _ **on his watch** _ and which he very clearly had a role in exacerbating by promoting white supremacy and racism. It’s just an incredible twisting of facts and Orwellian rewriting of history – as befits a wannabe dictator – and if many voters actually fall for it, there is no hope for this country or any prospect of it being able to govern itself. > > Look, we humans are a highly malleable, suggestible breed. Nobody is immune to the influence of bad ideas. Trumpism is nothing compared to some of the movements that people have gotten behind in earlier eras - and yet people managed to move onwards and upwards. America will too. The question is, will it be after 200,000 people have died of a virus, or 2,000,000? Or more? That’s all that needs to be focused on at _this_ moment in time. Sure, some things are more urgent that others. But the real problem isn’t Trump, it’s that nearly half the voters who bothered to get off their asses to vote at all voted for this dangerous moron. And despite the stark evidence of the last three and a half years, which should have left him with no support at all, he has a fair chance of being elected _ **again** _! This is more than just a passing misguided fad. It’s a really fundamental problem where a vast number of voters seem to be guided by Orwellian disinformation and “alternative facts”, along with a hefty dose of racism and xenophobia. Let’s revisit this later in November and see where we are. Even if Trump loses, he’s already setting the stage for refusing to concede. At this point I would not want to count on a peaceful transition of power. Not to mention that he’s doing everything possible to manipulate the vote, and to engage foreign interference. Are these things not the very definition of democracy in peril? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-seriously-worried-that-these-riots-are-going-to-get-trump-re-elected/919092/40 "2020-08-27T02:06:54Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > It’s absolutely astounding to me that the Trump cadre could somehow try to blame Democrats for the protests and riots that are happening _ **on his watch** _ and which he very clearly had a role in exacerbating by promoting white supremacy and racism. It’s just an incredible twisting of facts and Orwellian rewriting of history – as befits a wannabe dictator – and if many voters actually fall for it, there is no hope for this country or any prospect of it being able to govern itself. According to one of my dumbass friends - who swears he’s not a Trump supporter but, like, both sides are the worst and he’ll probably vote for Trump - all of the cities that are being _destroyed_ have Democrat mayors. Hmm I heard my Trumpian dad say the very same day “do national politics even matter? Go to a city council meeting!” So this “local democrats” smokescreen must be a conservative talking point _du jour_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-seriously-worried-that-these-riots-are-going-to-get-trump-re-elected/919092.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-seriously-worried-that-these-riots-are-going-to-get-trump-re-elected/919092.md?page=3)