Trump’s message to wavering voters: Go ahead and vote
for Biden
Opinion by
Columnist
September 30, 2020 at 11:42 a.m. CDT
The day
after President Trump and Joe Biden met for their first debate, no one in the
United States is happier than the Proud Boys. But when Trump gave them a hearty
shout-out, he also sent a message to wavering Republican and independent
voters, particularly those who may like some of what Trump has done but are
having trouble with either of their choices in this election.
This is
what Trump is saying to them: You can vote for Joe Biden even if you
don’t like everything he believes in, or if you have doubts about him. I’ll
make this easier for you.
The
debate was not quite like the movie climax when the villain rips off his mask
and shocks the clueless characters by showing them his true nature. We know
Trump’s true nature. But he is making it clear that for the next six weeks, he
won’t let anyone forget it, or cast their vote with any delusions.
The
debate was a horror show from start to finish, so much so that even many
Republicans are expressing their displeasure at Trump’s performance. But
nothing was more appalling than this moment, when the question of Trump
condemning white supremacists came up:
TRUMP:
What do you want to call them? Give me a name, give me a name. Who would you
like me to condemn? Who?
CHRIS
WALLACE: White supremacists and right-wing militia.
BIDEN:
Proud Boys.
TRUMP:
Proud Boys, stand back and stand by. But I’ll tell you what, I’ll tell you
what. Somebody’s got to do something about antifa and the left.
In case
you aren’t familiar with them, the Proud Boys are a far-right “Western
chauvinist” organization that specializes in xenophobia, anti-Semitism and all manner of other
hatreds; their primary mode of political action is showing up heavily armed at
protests in an attempt to provoke violence.
According to the Anti-Defamation League,
“the Proud Boys bear many of the hallmarks of a gang, and its members have
taken part in multiple acts of brutal violence and intimidation.” As the
group’s founder once said, “We will kill you. That’s the Proud
Boys in a nutshell.”
Within
moments of Trump’s comments, the Proud Boys were celebrating their victory online. The
president of the United States had given them a virtual thumbs-up and an
instruction: Stand by, because you’re going to be needed to “do something.”
They
were so pleased that they’re literally putting Trump’s words on T-shirts.
This is
hardly the first time Trump has been asked about a fringe group and given them
what amounts to an endorsement, whether it’s QAnon or the “very fine people” at a
white supremacist rally in Charlottesville. But doing it in front of the
largest audience he’s likely to have in this campaign, as we begin the home
stretch of the election, sends a particularly important message.
And
that was only one of the appalling things that happened in Tuesday’s debate.
Others included Trump attacking Biden’s children and all but promising to
promote chaos and confusion during the election’s vote-counting.
For
those who are still considering voting for Trump but aren’t quite sure, the
truth is unavoidable. Trump is not just the worst of us — corrupt, petty,
vindictive, ignorant, dishonest — he also wants to bring out the worst in all
of us.
Four
years ago, there were plenty of voters who decided that he was worth a shot.
Sure, he was rough around the edges, but maybe he’d shake things up in a
positive way.
Maybe
he’d grow into the job, become presidential, reach out to all Americans.
Trump
simply will not let anyone believe that anymore. As we get closer to the
election, there will be no new tone and no reaching out. He will only become more
what he is.
For
those wavering voters, Trump’s unadorned awfulness offers a kind of liberation.
They don’t have to struggle with cognitive dissonance, or labor to convince
themselves that the truth might be something other than what is staring them in
the face. Trump will not allow it.
Are you
a moderate suburban woman who has voted Republican before? Trump tells you that
the reason you should vote for him is to protect your “property values” from
nonwhite people. He offers a version of “law and order” based on violence and
brutality. He promotes white supremacists.
In
other words, he won’t let you vote for him for noble reasons;
he only wants your vote for the worst reasons. That’s because, as we all should
understand by now, Trump believes that we’re all as despicable as he is.
When he
appeals to racism and xenophobia, it’s because he thinks we’re a nation of
racists and xenophobes who will respond with cheers. When he says you’d have to
be a sucker to pay your taxes, it’s because he thinks we’re all as selfish and
unpatriotic as he is. When he undermines the integrity of our elections, it’s
because he thinks that like him, we don’t care whether democracy works or even
survives.
With each step he descends down into his particular moral sewer, the
easier it should be for wavering voters to turn away from him.
There will be no shame for them in voting for a Democrat — even if
it’s just this once — if it means rejecting what Trump wants them to be. He is
offering them permission to vote for Biden. Now all they have to do is accept.