Talking to people who love Donald J. Trump is helpful. Leave out the Twitter-bot White nationalists (please!) and the crazy sycophants all candidates have who are not John Kasich. Talk to regular Republicans.
My unscientific sample of Trump friends has them arguing three things about Donald J. Trump.
First, they think Trump is an “outsider” and that he will bust the corrupt system.
They point to “stop Trump” meetings of insiders and argue that this is proof of his outsider status. Of course, Trump’s unhinged behavior on the campaign trail may be a reason that many people would oppose his candidacy, both powerful and not so powerful (see me!). The President will get the nuclear button and can do a great deal of mischief if he is easily provoked (small hands!) or unstable (“Trump steaks exist!”).
Second, friends of Trump are often opposed to “free trade” and instead want “fair trade.” Given the Great Depression, arguably worsened by high taxes (tariffs) on imports, few just say: “I like taxes on your stuff from overseas.” These people think we are getting ripped off by China, Japan, and other nations.
Let’s assume that this is true, though it seems factually dubious. Let’s assume we need to start again and renegotiate many of our trade agreements. After all, what’s wrong with bringing back American jobs? Let’s assume more tariffs would do it.
Finally, supporters say that Trump is a nationalist and not a globalist. Trump wants to make American great again.
Let’s not stereotype these worries. Nobody is quite an isolationist. Who doesn’t know NATO saved Western Europe? I am not sure any person now living wishes the Germans to take the full burden of their defense. This has gone badly in the past. Who would wish Japan to rearm if we left the Pacific? Can anyone imagine the Chinese reaction to a nuclear Japan with a large fleet? I have yet to meet a person who wishes a return to piracy or the destruction of cheap and safe air travel if we left the international organizations that make the one hard and the other easy.
Our ocean liners no longer hit icebergs in part because we joined international organizations to avoid that.
Most people who fear globalism do not wish us to lose our sovereignty to the “one world order.” This fear can range from irrational conspiracy theories (the Bushes and the CIA control everything!) to sensible worries about the erosion of our rights under the Constitution. Americans have a great deal of liberty and many Americans (sorry Sanders voters!) do not want to trade liberty for security.
Let’s assume globalism is a big problem and that an increase in nationalism is the solution. Let’s agree that the “rich,” the “elite,” and the “insiders” are all corrupt and “screwing us over.”*
In short, let’s agree with everything a Trump supporter (like this) believes. They are right about the problem and have the right (general answers).
If right, they should still not vote for Donald J. Trump.
Why?
There are two ways to know a person: actions, endorsements, and words. I wanted to vote for Trump. Who wishes Clinton in the White House? I did my own research and discovered that Trump could not be trusted even if Trump is right in all his solutions.
If we believe in Trump’s message, then we can never vote for Trump because Trump is more likely to betray us than obey us. How could this be true? We know the Donald!
We often make a simple mistake: we think we know celebrities. Trump is a rich and successful business guy. Trump has great kids. Trump tells it like it is. Why? This is the character he has played for us for decades on television and in movies.
But consider: if I had asked Americans to pick a good role model for the African-American family, many (especially in the Anglo community) would have said: Bill Cosby. We knew Cosby from his shows, comedy routines, and lectures on family values. Often my feed would contain some sermon from Cosby advocating African-American young men “behave.”
Nobody should ask William Shatner about leadership, but because he played Captain Kirk on television, people think of him as a leader. There is no Captain Kirk to put in office . . . only William Shatner and William Shatner should not be President.
Here is the frightening fact about Hollywood: they protect their own. In the case of Bill Cosby, he was known as a hypocrite. He played the moral man and we believed the act.
This turned out to be . . .wrong and Hollywood knew it was wrong all the time. Nobody on the “inside” thought Cosby a moral man, but they kept quiet.
What do we know about Donald J. Trump? We have only his actions and his words.
His actions are of a globalist and professional celebrity. He is not a great philanthropist and he has not served the poor or the needy in America.
We know he hangs out with rich globalists and Hollywood types. They have been his pals for decades. We know he had conventionally liberal views on many issues two or three years ago. He makes his goods abroad, has imported foreign labor, and has asked for special permits to bring people into the country to work for his resorts. Go back before he ran and the “elites” were trying to smear him. Check his friends.
He was not hanging with Pat Buchanan. He was hanging with the very people opposed to him.
I am told that we cannot count what Trump has done because as a business guy, he had to play by the rules to win. Of course, many people do not buy casinos to make money on gambling. They think that is wrong. Many business people do not have major companies that go bankrupt four times. Most do not go bankrupt once.
Trump has never acted on his “nationalist” beliefs in his business. He does hang with insiders.
Why then are they opposing him?
It could be that he threatens their power. It also could be that he is behaving in a weird and reckless manner that is freaking everyone else out. We can either believe in a global conspiracy against a reality television star running for office or powerful people worried that a lightweight guy that is a bit unhinged is getting close to great power.
It is one thing to let the Donald cheat at golf, but another to make him leader of the Free World. The rich and famous know each other. It is one thing to keep quiet about OJ’s womanizing, drug use, or temper. . . another thing to defend him for murder. The elite will keep quiet until somebody they know steps way out of line (OJ) or when the manufactured lie is about to “work” in a way for which it was not intended.
Nobody in business thinks “Trump” when they think successful business guy. Trump is the poor person’s idea of a rich person. He gilds everything to sell flash, the main sources of his cash other than real estate. “Donald J. Trump” is a character Donald J. Trump plays . . . like Daddy Warbucks in Annie. The real guy is a 69 year who almost went personally bankrupt, but was saved by his banks and family. As an older guy, his Hollywood career was ending and he went into politics.
His experience is that of a globalist insider who has profited by inside government connections and friends in the elite. We are only left with his word he has changed.
Sadly, Donald J. Trump’s word about his plans is no good if he is trying to sell you something. In The Art of the Deal he brags about the pitch that is not . . . quite . . . true. It is one thing to make it look like you are building a building by moving dirt around (ha!) to fool your investors, but another thing to sell yourself for the White House with a pitch.
We know he lies to make money. How do you know? Watch the Trump University pitch. It was not a university and it was illegal to call it one in New York. I know that from running and starting schools. He kept the name . . . though he now fudges by calling it an “initiative.” He did not pick the teachers. The quality of the information was not equivalent (I hope) to what he got at Wharton. He lies every time he talks about the lawsuits by pretending disgruntled students are trolling him for money. One party to the suit is the Attorney General of New York. He is not hoping to make money.
But why take my word for this? Here is what a supporter said today:
The best approach to someone like Trump, who is at heart a business pragmatist without rigid ideological convictions (convictions that would make it extremely difficult for a businessman to function), is to love him to death. That way you bring him over to your side, politically and ideologically. It should be obvious, like Willy Loman, Donald only wants to be “well-liked.” He doesn’t even make a secret of it. He wants to make a deal and fairly invites co-optation.
Exactly.
Trump doesn’t hang with people like you. He isn’t like you. He was born with a platinum spoon and a full table setting. He wants to be liked by the kind of wheeler and dealers he has bought off with bribes for years. He wants his golf buddies to like him.
He will sell you out as he did Trump U “students” the minute he gets in office and can make a deal. He will play golf again with the elites. You will own a baseball cap.
Maybe not. Maybe. Face it, however, all the evidence says Trump is for Trump and that he is not for you. He is playing you like a casino gambler and the Trump House will always win.
You don’t know Trump, but you know Trump lies as a strategy for money and power. If you give him power and he betrays you, as he almost certainly will, you will be tarred by his betrayal for a generation.
Don’t back the globalist elitist Donald J. Trump the man. The character sadly, like Mr. Huxtable or Captain Kirk, does not exist.
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*I have never noticed more or less virtue in the poor than the rich. There are many rich patriots and many rich cads, just like in the rest of us.
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