I Don’t Think Trump’s Remaining Supporters Realize How Much They Are Despised By Non-MAGA Voters
Early last week, I was at the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library for its first weekend. In the library itself, despite the President Donald Trump inappropriately inserting himself at the opening ceremonies, I didn’t see a single person wearing Trump-brand clothing.
The town of Medora, North Dakota itself was, however, another story. It wasn’t overwhelming. But for someone who lives in an urban center of a blue state where even in ruby red rural areas most people are too embarrassed to shut up about their MAGA tendencies, a single wrong MAGA cap is a rarity.
I hung out with a half-dozen people I observed wearing Trump-branded clothing in Medora, but I didn’t initiate any interaction. What’s the point?
However, Trump’s apparent support cost the city some tourist dollars. When a bibliophile significant other of mine overheard the clerk at the bookstore excitedly showing another customer the photos she had taken of Trump during the president’s previous visit to the city, she quietly put down the roughly $60 worth of books she was holding. We left without making a purchase.
Later last week, I was on a boat called Sea Hunter III with my father heading to Isle Royale National Park (it was a busy week). An overweight man, who was all alone, was approaching almost everyone on board. The father made a polite response when this man commented on the Air Force veteran’s ball cap.
I didn’t, because it took this guy less than 30 seconds to go from serving in my father’s Air Force to praising Donald Trump. I shut him up with a harsh comment.
“He’s probably just lonely,” the father said when the boy left to bother someone else. I replied that he was absolutely lonely – who would want to spend time with a son of a whore?
We walked. I didn’t have my antagonist microchipped, but this guy was on the dock when we left and still rounding up people when we came back. I didn’t see him on the trail, and he wasn’t in any shape to show up anyway. In the safety briefing we received before boarding the vessel, we were told to shout to the captain immediately if we saw someone fall overboard, but if it had happened to this fellow, I wouldn’t have batted an eye.
Trump is bleeding support even among its stubborn and uneducated base. We all know at least one Trump supporter who enjoys pissing people off, who is an internet troll come to life in the real world.
However, I don’t think most of his remaining supporters are. I think most of them are completely unaware of how much they are looked down upon by anyone who doesn’t identify as MAGA.
During Trump’s first term, I might be more forgiving. I’ve been lucky enough to get some good scholarships, get a good education, and be able to distinguish reality from bullshit. For people who were never trained how to think critically and whose lives are not going as planned, I had a grace.
January 6 it was the breaking point for me. After that, in what anyone who wasn’t completely brainless could see was a blatant attempt to subvert the democratically elected US government, fueled by Trump and Trump alone, I couldn’t see MAGA’s associates for anything but what they were: enemies of America who cared about nothing beyond their own political power.
Other people have had different breaking points. Maybe it was unnecessary war against Iran, maybe it was more than 2 billion dollars Trump has defrauded out of the presidency in the past year, perhaps it was his utter contempt about conservatism: different people have different reasons for leaving the MAGA cult. But if you haven’t quit yet, you’re either an idiot who shouldn’t vote, or a horrible human being willing to overlook absolutely anything as long as the political team of your choice wins.
This is not the opposite party spending money on things you don’t like. This is Trump’s the regime that kills innocent people and covering it. IS giving up America’s position on the world stage. If you’re still a Trump supporter and this column has somehow punctured your media bubble, know that you’re rightfully bashed. You are actively making life worse for Americans. You will be lonely until the end, and then you will be forgotten.
Jonathan Wolf is a civil attorney and author of Your debt free JD (affiliate link). He has lectured on legal writing, written for a variety of publications, and made it both his job and his pleasure to be financially and scientifically literate. Any views he expresses are probably pure gold, but are nonetheless his own and should not be attributed to any organization he is affiliated with. He wouldn’t want to share the credit anyway. He can be reached at (email protected).
