# Was it possible/plausible for a morally upright person to vote for President Trump in 2020?

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-possible-plausible-for-a-morally-upright-person-to-vote-for-president-trump-in-2020/926099
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [November 21, 2020, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-possible-plausible-for-a-morally-upright-person-to-vote-for-president-trump-in-2020/926099 "2020-11-21T04:23:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 38

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### Author: ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2020, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-possible-plausible-for-a-morally-upright-person-to-vote-for-president-trump-in-2020/926099/38 "2020-11-22T23:12:40Z")

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> [@Max\_S](#):
>
> I appreciate your arguments, the only one I don’t agree with is the moral imperative to be informed before voting.
> 
> I agree, it’s very important and morally good to be well-informed. But I would not hold it against someone who voted without being well-informed if I think _they honestly thought they were well informed_. And I think that’s where a lot of Trump voters and even supporters lie.
> 
> ETA: Well, also your point about disagreement. Disagreement can be based on ignorance and can be used as a “get out of morality free card”, specifically disagreeing on facts. People disagree about facts all the time, by definition, one party is ignorant or insincere.
> 
> ~Max

It actually seems like you didn’t disagree with me at all. You just misunderstood me. I specifically said there’s a moral imperative to attempt to be informed–they may not succeed. And I was separating out disagreement and ignorance as two separate things. Disagreement due to ignorance is just ignorance.

While I’m here, I’d also like to address something you said in the other thread, as we were told to take the conversation to a new thread. And my response is relevant to this thread as well.

> [@Election Day \[Week\]\[Month\[s\]\] \[Year\] 2020 follow-along thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6690):
>
> I don’t personally think Trump is an authoritarian. That’s not his style; I don’t think he has it in him.

I consider that a disagreement at the factual level. If you agree he tried to subvert the vote and is currently in the process of trying to delegitimize the vote and still remain leader when he’s been voted out, then he is by definition an authoritarian. Any time someone rejects the results of a democracy and installs themselves as leader, that is authoritarianism.

I would also, however, point out his other authoritarian aspects. He kept saying he was going to force newspapers to stop saying bad things about him. Several times he’s tried to unilaterally do things the president doesn’t have the power to do on his own. He actively tries to ruin the lives of everyone who is ever opposed to him. He even tries to declare that reality itself must obey his commands.

He’s definitely the authoritarian type. He’s shown it his entire presidency, and that is why he is trying to overthrow our democracy right now. That’s what authoritarianism does.

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