Ever since Donald Trump opened his mouth about running for president, those who do not support him have questioned just about everything he has said and done. Along with that, his supporters have been questioned at just about the same frequency.
Sadly, at his point, more than 4 years later (from his campaigning, not from his first day as president), there is little coming from him that should surprise us.
That goes the same for his supporters.
Don’t get me wrong; there are all kinds of reasons we should question his supporters. But here is why we should stop doing that.
If a white man spoke repeatedly about hating black people and he was eventually caught saying the n-word, would that surprise you?
If a man talks every day about how women need to “stay in their place” and jokes about beating them, would it shock you if he eventually beat his wife?
Questioning why Trump’s behavior has not detracted his supporters, especially when he does certain things, would mean that some of this behavior does not already exist in them.
In other words, we are giving Trump supporters way too much credit. The behaviors they support from him are behaviors they have engaged in or would engage in. That’s the bottom line.
They support it because they DO it.
Here are a few examples:
Mocking the Disabled Reporter
The infamous video (yes, a video exists) and picture of Donald Trump mocking a disabled reporter are all over the place. I began seeing these pictures to include the phrase, “For as long as I live, I will never understand why this was not the end of it.” This obviously implies that no way should people have continued supporting him after that.
However, how many times have seen someone disagree with one’s opinion, and right away, they go to what the person looks like? Whether the other person can control it or not, they go right at their looks or some physical disfigurement. So when Trump mocks this disabled reporter after the reporter says something he disagrees with, the people who would support that do so because it’s something they have done or would do. Chances are, you’ve already seen them do it a time or two.
Russian Interference
There’s all kinds of evidence that Russia interfered with the election in 2016. So why is that not enough for Trump supporters? Because they did not want Hillary Clinton to win. That means they are okay with cheating if it means she does not. Do you think that’s the first time cheating ever came to their minds? Absolutely not. No way in the world that a person who is okay with Russia interfering with our elections is a person who never cheated in his or her life. We’re surprised that this is not enough because we think we are dealing with people who have the integrity to denounce cheating. They don’t. We are looking for something that’s not there. But I promise that this was absolutely not the first time these people found cheating acceptable. Again…this is something that you’ve likely seen before from them.
Women For Trump
“I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.”
Trump was speaking in reference to a particular woman in this case, but as you see, he eventually talks about women in general, as evidenced by his use of the word “they.” Why would this because okay, even with women? It could be one of two reasons. One, maybe because they have been around men who talk like that and have learned it to be acceptable; and two, because they believe he is not talking about them. Trump has made his stance about women more than clear over the years, and it is obvious that these are his general thoughts about what he calls the “nasty” women he often refers to rather than just addressing one particular individual.
But WAIT…this was said in 2005. So why am I talking about it now? Well, Donald Trump was not some horny teenager who knew nothing when that came out of his mouth. He was 59 years old. FIFTY-NINE. By that time in his life, he had already made (allegedly) his billions, he had run a number of businesses (into the ground, but still) and hosted television shows. So it’s not like he doesn’t know any better or said it by accident. Along with that, minds don’t often change drastically after age 59. I’m no expert, but nothing in his behavior suggests that he does not still believe in what he said back then. Referring again to the teen years, it’s not as though he thought a certain way at 15 and then we’re looking at him at the age of 30. His thinking could have changed quite a bit by then. 15 to 30 is far more likely than 59 to 74.
Racism
He says nothing about unarmed black men and women being murdered by police. He calls White Supremacists “fine people.” People support that because they are not only okay with this, but this is their thinking also. If they did not believe in those areas, they would speak against it as opposed to agreeing with it. Enough said.
I’ll leave it there for now, or I would be writing this all day. The point is, we’re still responding to Trump supporters and their reactions to Trump’s behavior as though they’re not already thinking or doing much of what Trump has done or is doing. And once again…chances are, you’ve already seen this. You were just not paying attention. But when you ask the question, “How can Trump supporters not have a problem with…?” it’s not because they are stupid or don’t know what’s going on.
They support him because they are him.
They were him long before the rest of the country truly got to know him.
His supporters are not people with high moral standards who are pretending they don’t know he’s saying and doing these things.
They support him because they have been there and done that.
That’s it.
People's Court 