Official White House photo by Tia Dufour
It leaves a bad taste when Donald Trump brings his angry, red-hatted circus to any town with all those twisted, red faces shrieking their hatred on cue, booing former President Barack Obama and chanting “Lock her up!” at every mention of Hillary Clinton, Trump’s opponent of three long years ago. But it really doesn’t matter.
It’s not a pretty sight, but Trump’s tired, outdated act is becoming increasingly irrelevant. Does anyone even remember why Trump wants Hillary to go to prison for running against him? Was it something to do with what email server she used? Did she stay on AOL after everyone else switched to Gmail?
Trump’s newer material certainly doesn’t stir much excitement. Does anyone seriously believe he can’t get his dishes sparkling in his dishwasher and makes Melania re-wash them by hand? And if Trump really has to flush his Trump Tower toilets 10 times, it may signify an intestinal problem.
Trump’s hate rally merely serves as a reminder that a lot of snarling white voters among us are still attracted to his openly racist appeals. Sadly, we already know that. Trump insulted the intelligence of his Wisconsin supporters by reviving one of the “golden oldies” he hasn’t used for years, because everyone else knows it’s a lie: “Mexico is paying for the wall, you know that. You’ll see that. It’s all worked out.” Spoiler alert: No, it isn’t. Taxpayers are paying billions for his worthless wall.
A nutty Trump rally at a Downtown sports arena won’t shave a single anti-Trump vote from the overwhelming Democratic vote in Milwaukee, and from a growing number of educated suburban voters as well. As for small-town and rural Wisconsin voters, another political development last week will continue to reduce Trump’s support out there, too.
Driving Farmers Into Bankruptcy
That was Trump’s decision to cut U.S. losses and retreat in his disastrous trade war with China. He signed “Phase One” of a Chinese trade agreement, which doesn’t begin to make up for driving hundreds of Wisconsin farmers into bankruptcy and creating a recession in state manufacturing that has destroyed thousands of jobs.
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Everyone who opposes Trump has always been amazed that so many of his supporters believe all the lies he tells them about fighting to improve their lives when he clearly hasn’t. Trump’s presidency has only been about improving the lives of the wealthy—especially his wealthy self. But all those laid-off Wisconsin factory workers, and all the state farmers who’ve lost their livelihoods, will have more important things to do in their struggle to survive next November than voting for Trump again.
Trump’s unlikely to ever reach a “Phase Two” agreement with China on the real global issues affecting jobs and trade. Meanwhile, he continues punishing U.S. consumers and companies with tariffs on $360 billion worth of Chinese goods, nearly two-thirds of all China imports. China doesn’t pay those tariffs; Americans do by paying higher prices for those goods and reducing profits for U.S. companies that use Chinese parts and materials.
Bias and Bigotry
Trump’s emotional appeal to the biases of poorly educated white voters has taken a toll on Republicans in elections. Wisconsin Republicans used to regularly turn out more voters than Democrats because many financially successful Republicans were well-educated. Historically, voter turnout increases with education. But Trump has begun reversing that advantage by offending so many college-educated voters with his anti-immigration bigotry.
That has visibly reduced the Republican advantage in the state’s well-educated, affluent, Republican counties of Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington. Charles Franklin, who conducts Marquette University Law School’s political polling, noted after the 2018 Democratic statewide election sweep ended the political careers of Republican Gov. Scott Walker and Atty. Gen. Brad Schimel, “Those counties are still voting Republican, but as much as 16 points less on the margin now than they were.”
The president’s crude rallies always have a threatening, menacing edge that is especially jarring at a time when everyone concerned about the future of our democracy is focusing on only the third impeachment trial in history of an American president charged with corruptly violating the U.S. Constitution for his own benefit. With that trial taking place in the same year the president is up for reelection, it could determine the next president, even if, as expected, the Republican majority in the U.S. Senate refuses to remove Trump from office.
Republicans are walking a public tightrope because they have to pretend to conduct a fair trial of their party’s president before acquitting him of any wrongdoing. That won’t be easy, since Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, coordinating the entire trial with Trump, would prefer not to interview any witnesses and admit as little evidence as possible.
If the majority of American voters see a sham trial, Republicans risk losing their slim majority in the U.S. Senate, along with the presidency. All that hateful bellowing at Trump’s rallies will just be so much blowing in the wind.
