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The Chaos
“Like many liberals, I’ve been struggling to understand why millions of Americans continue to back President Trump.”
He’s not alone.
Jonathan Zimmerman, a Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, spoke for many, and his discovery struck a chord:
“[T]he best short explanation I’ve seen appeared in a letter to the New York Times [on 10.16.20] by Arthur Saginian of Santa Clarita, California. I don’t know Mr. Saginian, but his letter taught me more than a thousand news articles and op-ed columns about Donald Trump’s popularity: it’s about how Trump behaves, not what he believes.”
We’re truly baffled at how many millions of fellow citizens so effortlessly dismiss Trump’s twenty-thousand-plus lies, projections, corruption, norm-shattering behaviors, incompetence, narcissism, tragic mismanagement of the pandemic, and behind-the-scenes implementation of self-serving policies. That’s the short version of his many betrayals of the values, principles, and ethics the great majority of our public official have made consistent good-faith efforts to respect and honor.
Mr. Zimmerman thinks that Trump-supporter Saginian provides an answer. Whether such viewpoints deserve respect as merely a legitimate difference of opinion is another matter.
“I like Mr. Trump because he is uncouth, unpredictable, uncontrollable…
