I wonder how much of the culture wars are influenced by what people see in television programs that are largely in no way political. As an example, what you see in a lot of popular sitcoms are people living and working in major cities or suburbs. This is true whether it’s sitcoms like Seinfeld and 2-and-half men, or TV dramas. There are values that are being expressed through those shows, which depict the life experiences of people living in cities, and often mock people who don’t. I suspect that’s one reason why Trump supporters flock to shows like Duck Dynasty and Ice Road Truckers. It shows a different “reality.”
As I said on another thread, I get the sense that a lot of Trump supporters feel alienated by much of what qualifies as ‘mainstream’ television, and not just in the news media. It’s their reaction to movies, television, and other aspects of popular culture. Musicians have long been a focus of right wing resentment, and hell, they even turn on their own, as they did when the Dixie Chicks criticized George W Bush in 2003. I guess I get the sense that, more and more, Trump supporters, many of whom are white and rural, feel that their story is increasingly not being told by (largely urban) media institutions, which is partly what fuels their hatred of the news media.
But then you get into the political realm, and that’s where distrust and feeling indignant over the lack of respect can turn into outright hostility. It’s just my own experience and interaction with Trump supporters - as someone who grew up in the heart of Trump Land - but a lot of people who identify with Trump work hard. Many of them built their own small businesses. They drive pickup trucks. A lot of them might laugh at off-color jokes but don’t strike me as people with a burning hatred of minorities, but they feel like the Democrats, along with media and other cultural institutions, bend over backwards to give breaks to minorities that they wouldn’t give to whites like them.
I’m not saying they’re right and I obviously have many disagreements with people in Trump world, but in a way, I concede, I can kinda ‘get it.’ If you work hard to work around business regulations to build a small business, pay your taxes, pay your business license and permit fees, if you act responsibly, you resent people who don’t act responsibly and then ask for assistance that you, in part, pay for. And honestly, Democrats would do a little better if they’d just acknowledge some of that publicly. That sentiment is amplified when it comes to illegal immigration, and it’s amplified times ten if you’re living in an area that was once white and largely English speaking a generation ago and is now brown and largely Spanish speaking now. Democrats and progressives have to acknowledge that there’s some legitimacy to the fears and concerns - in some cases. That is the only way that their case for tolerance is going to be heard, and ultimately accepted.
All of that said, yes, Trump is a shithead and a lot of his supporters are unapologetic assholes, too. We have to accept that in a democracy, there are irredeemables.