These are Donald Trump’s “deplorables,” as Hillary Clinton calls them—11 unashamed Trump-train riders from across the United States, writing in their own words.
To Clinton, they—or at least “half of them,” as the Democratic nominee chuckled last weekend in a stunning display of contempt before hurriedly apologizing—can be lumped together as “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic—you name it.”
Our contributors would disagree. The Trump supporters who volunteered to write for Maclean’s this week are collegians and golden agers, whites and non-whites, retirees and working people. One studies bioterrorism; one teaches Grade 7. They hail from locales as variegated as Boynton Beach, Mayfield Heights, Wichita Falls, and Punxsutawney. (One of them is this writer’s first cousin.)
Two weeks ago, Trump said, “Becoming the nominee of the party of Abraham Lincoln . . . has been the greatest honour of my life. It is on his legacy that I hope to build the future of the party, but more important, the future of the country.” It is likely that, when they harken to Trump on the stump, only a minority of American citizens espy the second coming of Honest Abe. Even within his own party, Trump’s disapproval rating is unprecedented for a major-party nominee. But even if he is routed by Clinton on Nov. 8, at least 40 million Americans will vote Trump. Here’s why.
And the reasons are myriad: He's not the career politician in the race, he's "not afraid to speak the unpopular truth" about immigrants, Muslims, and black people, but most of all these are people who really, really, really hate Hillary Clinton, folks like Royce Barnes in the swing state of Florida.
I am a 68-year-old American voter. I am a white American. I am a combat veteran of the U.S. Army; I served for 18½ years, received an honourable medical discharge, and was declared 100 per cent Service Connected Disabled. I have been married to the same wonderful woman for over 33 years, have four children with her.
I grew up on a farm in the state of Maryland, which in the ’50s and ’60s, made my parents automatically Democrat. In 1966, I graduated from high school and joined the Army (U.S. one year, Korea one year, Vietnam one year). I never registered to vote until Jimmy Carter and I registered Democrat. He was the most destructive president in history until the current administration. I immediately changed to Republican after Carter.
Since then, I have followed and participated in the political process with a steadfast conviction, hoping to see either party honour the Constitution of the United States of America. What I have observed is that both parties have separated themselves from the Constitution because of political correctness, which was strongly introduced in the Bill Clinton administration. Now I live in a country where I am considered a terrorist, because I am a Christian, a veteran, a white conservative, law-abiding, born-in-America citizen.
What do I make of Mr Trump’s statements? I almost support all of his statements, because they are not polictically correct, they are mostly the honest truth. Finally, I believe that he is America’s last hope . . . if Clinton wins, America will never come back.
Most people have been dummy-downed by the lies and deception of their leaders, and are not even aware that their God-given liberty and rights have been almost completely stolen from them. American leadership has declined since JFK’s assassination to the point of treason and total corruption. The political system must be totally remodelled and redeemed.
I believe that God anointed Trump to be the agent of change necessary to defeat the so-called wise politically correct crowd that presently stands in the position of power and authority.
So yeah, I think that 40 million is low by half. Plenty of people will vote Trump, and they will rationalize away his racism, bigotry, misogyny, and Islamophobia because it doesn't affect them personally.
The question is will at least that many of the rest of us show up and vote for Clinton? Will Johnson and Stein really get 20 million votes between them on top of that?
Are we really going to put this asshole in the White House?
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