# Some Trump Supporter Please Explain This to Me **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 15, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-trump-supporter-please-explain-this-to-me/772082 "2016-11-15T18:34:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-trump-supporter-please-explain-this-to-me/772082/21 "2016-11-15T20:09:20Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > So, like most people, they vote along partisan lines. Republicans will overlook Trumps faults so long as Hillary doesn’t get elected and Democrats will overlook Hillary’s faults so long as Trump doesn’t get elected. No one sits down and says “here’s my twelve point comparison of the candidates based on the issues”. I would have to basically agree with you, but I will say I was mostly surprised at some members of extended family at how much they did know about the details of Hillary’s plans and actions. I have a cousin who lives waaay out in the sho’ 'nuff kuntry, and I was not looking forward to really seeing him or his family because I was sure I was going to have to spend the evening searching for “safe topics” but had a good detailed conversation with him about Comey & Hillary’s email mess, and how much he might have voted for her if she wasn’t more interested in hanging out with celebrities and her rich friends. That she was just giving meaningless platitudes to working people. He saw her as not really being interested in getting her hands dirty and rubbing elbows with the unwashed masses. He talked about how Trump irritated him, but that even if Trump is just lying to us little people, at least he is actually talking to us, he sees us, he acknowledges us. He sent me a link to that Mike Rowe article the other day. Said it summed up how he felt exactly. And I think people like my country cousin are not going to be all that mad at Trump for softening or walking back on his campaign talk, because they never expected him to do all that anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-trump-supporter-please-explain-this-to-me/772082/22 "2016-11-15T20:11:17Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > So, like most people, they vote along partisan lines. Republicans will overlook Trumps faults so long as Hillary doesn’t get elected and Democrats will overlook Hillary’s faults so long as Trump doesn’t get elected. No one sits down and says “here’s my twelve point comparison of the candidates based on the issues”. Because anyone who did that would come up with 11-1/2 points for Hillary, losing only the half on “President’s gotta have a wang” test. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-trump-supporter-please-explain-this-to-me/772082/23 "2016-11-15T20:14:17Z")
> [@Grumbacher\_Red](#): > > The point is, not everybody who voted for Trump is some white wack-a-doo who sits in their house thinking every minute of every day how much they hate black and brown people. For them, the choice to vote for Trump was not because they hate anybody else. It was a vote for their own self-interest, what they felt would be the best direction for them and their families. And isn’t everyone, at the very least, entitled to that? You’re giving me hope that with small changes to the platform, moderate changes to the attitude and a different candidate, Democrats won’t have too much trouble recapturing the White House in four years. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-trump-supporter-please-explain-this-to-me/772082/24 "2016-11-15T20:15:51Z")
“The system works!” is for winners. “The system sucks!” is for losers. He tweeted one thing when he thought he was going to lose, or at least was prepared for it (unlike HRC) and another thing when he didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-trump-supporter-please-explain-this-to-me/772082/25 "2016-11-15T20:20:59Z")
He exploited angry people and promised to fix it right away. And he can’t. He can pee on their shoes and tell them its raining. Or he can try to blame it on us. And if just half of those people catch on? Gotta just hope the “Kill the Hippies!” bill doesn’t pass. Not sure I can rely on full-combat _tai chi_. ---
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-trump-supporter-please-explain-this-to-me/772082/26 "2016-11-15T20:24:25Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > Like, how did they rationalize away all of the accounts from the contractors and laborers saying he stiffed them? > > How did your civic-dutiful peers reconcile his tax evasivess with their own values? That should’ve raised some kind of flags, right? > > I could go on and on. Absolutely it doesn’t make anyone immune from critique. As I stated, I voted for Hillary, and I gotta critique myself and live with that. As to the contractors, etc…what I mostly heard was counterbalance with something Hillary did they felt was equally bad or worse, such as the way earthquake and hurricane victims in Haiti never really got any real relief aid, but somehow all those fancy resorts got built on the other side of the island. And the tax evasion, they felt like he just exploited existing loopholes in our tax code, and well…that’s what wealthy people do. I am not agreeing with that, obviously I made another choice, so don’t shoot the messenger. I am just saying, hey, I didn’t see anybody I know putting him up on a pedastal. Look, everyone had to make a judgement call on this election, and for some voters, after examining these 2 very imperfect candidates, there was plenty of manure to spread around the pasture. And another popular topic of conversation among us was where oh where, to get accurate unbiased info? My tactic was to just try and read and listen to a little of everything, from NPR, to The Blaze, to The Guardian, Slate, The Atlantic, to Rush Limbaugh, I like to hear it all and try to avoid being in a bubble and form my own opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-trump-supporter-please-explain-this-to-me/772082/27 "2016-11-15T20:30:46Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > You’re giving me hope that with small changes to the platform, moderate changes to the attitude and a different candidate, Democrats won’t have too much trouble recapturing the White House in four years. That’s so funny you say that, because I told so many people, for months, that if Hillary would just make some, a small fraction, of the disaffected rural folks feel like she somehow cared about them…Hell, if she would even deem herself to address them from time to time…she could win enough of them back to make a difference. But alas, it was not to be…her “basket of deplorables” comment put the nail in that coffin. The Democrats ran the wrong candidate this time, all the way around, imho. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-trump-supporter-please-explain-this-to-me/772082/28 "2016-11-15T21:00:47Z")
> [@chargerrich](#): > > Yet for the life of me… and in all seriousness, no kidding or bashing meant… how can literally ANY adult human being not be concerned with the myriad of undeniable and factual examples of Trump’s pandering/flip flopping, the latest just a few days AFTER he won the election? Because you are taking Trump[literally, but not seriously.](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/trump-makes-his-case-in-pittsburgh/501335/) His supporters take him seriously, not literally, and don’t take things like modifying his stance on a border wall as flip-flopping, because they understood all along that 1. it was a negotiating tactic, intended to move the Overton Window 2. the real promise he was making was “I will secure the border.” If illegal immigration is cut by 95%, the means are secondary. > [@](#): > > Heck, I will even buy your “he is a better choice than Hillary by far” and “lesser of two evils” routine if you will just admit what he is. Yet all i hear and see from that crowd is how great he is, what an amazing business man he is… Baloney. You’ve heard that plenty, including on these boards. You just choose to focus on the most extreme supporters (though in fairness, that’s who the media showcases). ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-trump-supporter-please-explain-this-to-me/772082/29 "2016-11-15T21:05:43Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > You’re giving me hope that with small changes to the platform, moderate changes to the attitude and a different candidate, Democrats won’t have too much trouble recapturing the White House in four years. Yup, just refine the message and you’ll be right back there in 2020. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-trump-supporter-please-explain-this-to-me/772082/30 "2016-11-15T21:11:15Z")
> [@furt](#): > > Because you are taking Trump[literally, but not seriously.](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/trump-makes-his-case-in-pittsburgh/501335/) > > His supporters take him seriously, not literally, and don’t take things like modifying his stance on a border wall as flip-flopping, because they understood all along that > > 1. it was a negotiating tactic, intended to move the Overton Window > 2. the real promise he was making was “I will secure the border.” If illegal immigration is cut by 95%, the means are secondary. > Baloney. You’ve heard that plenty, including on these boards. You just choose to focus on the most extreme supporters (though in fairness, that’s who the media showcases). yeah! What he said. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-trump-supporter-please-explain-this-to-me/772082/31 "2016-11-15T22:34:27Z")
> [@furt](#): > > Because you are taking Trump[literally, but not seriously.](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/trump-makes-his-case-in-pittsburgh/501335/) > > His supporters take him seriously, not literally, and don’t take things like modifying his stance on a border wall as flip-flopping, because they understood all along that > > 1. it was a negotiating tactic, intended to move the Overton Window > 2. the real promise he was making was “I will secure the border.” If illegal immigration is cut by 95%, the means are secondary. We’ll know if this is right when we start seeing approval ratings. I remember how upset the right-wingers were with Obama that they couldn’t all keep their insurance plans, so we know they take broken promises really seriously. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-trump-supporter-please-explain-this-to-me/772082/32 "2016-11-15T22:53:50Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > We’ll know if this is right when we start seeing approval ratings. I remember how upset the right-wingers were with Obama that they couldn’t all keep their insurance plans, so we know they take broken promises really seriously. I was not upset about Obama’s broken promise to close Gitmo, but I was pretty mad about his broken promise about my health insurance plan. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-trump-supporter-please-explain-this-to-me/772082/33 "2016-11-15T22:56:01Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The ends justified the means for them. [Both sides do this](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/03/31/harry-reids-appalling-defense-of-his-attack-on-mitt-romneys-tax-record/). ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-trump-supporter-please-explain-this-to-me/772082/34 "2016-11-15T23:11:11Z")
> [@furt](#): > > Because you are taking Trump[literally, but not seriously.](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/trump-makes-his-case-in-pittsburgh/501335/) If Democrats chose to take Trump literally but not seriously, it’s because they were optimists. Taking Trump seriously basically means that he really believes the last several decades were more-or-less a mistake, and that America was at its peak in the mid-20th century. That’s a pretty horrific worldview for non-conservatives; it’s easier to believe that Trump is simply filled with a bunch of misguided policy positions. ---
**Author:** ![OriginalGangster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ea5d25/32.png) [@OriginalGangster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OriginalGangster)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-trump-supporter-please-explain-this-to-me/772082/35 "2016-11-15T23:19:31Z")
Both were trolled. Whether either can accept it, completely different story ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-trump-supporter-please-explain-this-to-me/772082/36 "2016-11-15T23:29:29Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > We’ll know if this is right when we start seeing approval ratings. I remember how upset the right-wingers were with Obama that they couldn’t all keep their insurance plans, so we know they take broken promises really seriously. Bad analogy. Replacing a wall with a fence, or with patrolling UAVs in remote desert areas, or some other functional equivalent that still accomplishes the purpose, is a broken promise in the literal sense, but not one anyone will really care about. The equivalent would have been something like Obamacare failing to reduce premiums by an average of $2,500 and instead only reducing them $2,000; a broken promise in the literal sense, but not one anyone would have cared about. In both cases, you came close enough. When you tell someone that they can continue seeing Dr. X, and they must now see Dr. Y, that is a broken promise people care about, because it is not “close enough.” ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-trump-supporter-please-explain-this-to-me/772082/37 "2016-11-15T23:31:10Z")
Well, there was that Beck caller who threatened to assassinate Trump unless they got the literal wall, so while I’m leaning towards the majority of Trump voters agreeing with you, I really wonder if there aren’t more who will demand the literal than anyone thinks… ---
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-trump-supporter-please-explain-this-to-me/772082/38 "2016-11-15T23:31:16Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > If Democrats chose to take Trump literally but not seriously, it’s because they were optimists. Taking Trump seriously basically means that he really believes the last several decades were more-or-less a mistake, and that America was at its peak in the mid-20th century. That’s a pretty horrific worldview for non-conservatives; it’s easier to believe that Trump is simply filled with a bunch of misguided policy positions. I think the nostalgia that my mother’s generation (she’s born in 1947, so a classic Baby Boomer) feels for the mid-20th century has more to do with a longing for that simpler, small town life, where everyone knew everyone and you went to town on Saturdays to the Dime Store, the Drug Store, the Butcher Shop, and the sidewalks were bustling. It was just as much social as it was functional. The little town I grew up in is now a sad shell of its’ former self, and a sad thing to see. When you live in and around these dead and/or dying towns, it is easy to want to have a little bit of that back again, even if intellectually you know it is never coming back. My mother told me several years ago that if she had the power to be granted one magical gift, it would be to give her grandchildren one golden summer like she had as a kid, for them to be able to play outside freely all day and just explore and be kids. The longing for that time has nothing to do with oppressing minorities and/or women and wanting to put anybody “back in their place” so to speak. It just has to do with a longing for thriving little communities to maybe once again be a thing. I just see it as wishful thinking of that generation to have a little bit of the best of both worlds. That’s why I understand why the things Trump said resonated with some people. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-trump-supporter-please-explain-this-to-me/772082/39 "2016-11-16T00:30:07Z")
> [@Grumbacher\_Red](#): > > The longing for that time has nothing to do with oppressing minorities and/or women and wanting to put anybody “back in their place” so to speak. It just has to do with a longing for thriving little communities to maybe once again be a thing. I get it. I don’t blame anyone for the feeling. But when two different things are mutually exclusive, the pursuit of one is inevitably a rejection of the other. You can’t say “I wish I lived someplace where everyone went to the same church” while simultaneously saying “I don’t mind having Muslims as neighbors”. You can’t say “I wish the coal mine were still open” while simultaneously saying “I think climate change is man-made and that we should do something about it.” No one should get a pass for holding contradictory worldviews, especially if the contradiction is resolved by choosing the comfortable and self-interested side. Taking Trump supporters seriously necessarily means following these implications to their ends. ---
**Author:** ![Salvor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Salvor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salvor)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-trump-supporter-please-explain-this-to-me/772082/40 "2016-11-16T00:37:59Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > This was never about Trump winning-This was about Clinton _losing_. Trump was merely the tool used to do it, and they really didn’t give a shit about what he said or did as long as what he said and did accomplished the desired goal. The ends justified the means for them. Correct. Trumps allies were an unholy alliance of the genuinely gullible rubelike members of the white working class, and people who hate Hillary and treat her like Moby Dick with them as Ahab making her into the personification of all the evils in the world they are against. They are united in hatred, like Kreia from kotor 2 [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/K-pEG1JnDsM/hqdefault.jpg "Kreia's fall") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-pEG1JnDsM) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-trump-supporter-please-explain-this-to-me/772082.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-trump-supporter-please-explain-this-to-me/772082.md?page=3)