An open letter to Trump Supporters
Dear Trump Supporters,
Nothing I am going to say will change your mind. When you go to vote, most of which will do so on November 3rd, you will cast your ballot to re-hire the 45th President of the United States.
You’ll probably dismiss my words as a disgruntled liberal — after all, there’s probably not a single person that hates the Incumbent more than me.
(Just like a significant chunk of you hated Barack Obama, but I digress.)
However, this open letter is not about trying to make any sort of appeal to you. I am just going to level with you.
When you say that you love this country, I know you’re lying.
When you say that you believe that you’re voting for what’s best for this country, I know you’re lying.
When you say that you don’t think Trump is a racist, I know you’re lying.
When you say that you reject racism and bigotry in all of its forms, I know you’re lying.
When you say that you care about freedom and liberty, I know you’re lying.
When you say that you are always a compassionate person, I know you’re lying.
You don’t love this country. You love a romanticized, fictionalized version of it. And you resent liberals, progressives, and moderates that understandably (and rightfully) criticize some of the lingering socio-economic and political issues still prevalent in this country and call out that romanticized, fictionalized bullshit.
You’re not voting for what’s best for this country. You’re voting for what’s best for the romanticized, fictionalized version of this country you think that liberals, progressives, and moderates are aiming to tear down. You’ll lie to yourselves, and you will project that lie by claiming everyone else that doesn’t see things your way is a fucking liar, all to give yourselves more comfort in a world that you find uncomfortable, fueled by your own toxic insecurities.
You do know Trump is a racist. You prove this by stretching and twisting the meaning of his words and rhetoric like a contortionist; not to absolve him, but to absolve yourself of any modicum of guilt you may possess supporting him.
You don’t reject racism and bigotry in all of its forms. He’s not going around calling Black people n****gers or Hispanic people w******s. Doesn’t have to. Just has to throw around the veiled threats of poor, minority urbanites coming into pristine (White) suburbia; speak glowingly about the (submissive) Black and Brown people he allows to sit at his proverbial table of approval; or vilify Brown refugees and migrants with phallic, egotistical boats of erecting walls. I know what he’s doing. You know what he’s doing. But because he’s a useful tool for your fantasy of supply-side tax cuts and winning a culture war, you’ll take it.
You don’t care about freedom and liberty, because you care about the freedom and liberty to impose your worldview on others. You don’t want liberals, progressives, and moderates to just agree with you — oh no, you want them to submit to you. You want them to not just support Trump, but to submit to him. You’ll buy into the fearmongering lies of liberal authoritarianism (which is sheer irony), but you’ll give a free pass to the actual authoritarian and fascist tendencies of the Trump administration and the Republican Party, which is almost indistinguishable from the populist right-wing parties of Europe.
Many of you probably do wonderful things for family, for friends, and for strangers. You’re absolutely going to judge yourself by your best intentions and others by their worst examples — being guilty of doing so precludes any sociopolitical worldview.
But here’s the thing…
You know this.
You know all of this.
I am not telling you anything that you probably don’t know about yourself already.
That’s why I am not writing this to change your mind.
I’m only writing this to level with you.
Level with you about the fact about the deal that you’re making. Not with a “devil”, but with yourselves.
You’re willing to lie to yourselves and buy into the lies of a serial liar, because he provides you the comfort that you’ve been lacking. The comfort that you get from judging others by the color of their skin or ethnicity, regardless of how genteel you are about it or how much you try to deny you do so. The comfort that you get over buying into romanticized patriotic fantasies filled with toxic nationalism. And ultimately, the comfort that comes with a preference to question others based upon their example and a sheer unwillingness to question yourselves about what you’ve learned, what you know, what you believe, and how much you don’t want to be told you’re wrong.
You’re going to cast that vote for him, and I will not change your mind.
But I do see right through you.
And I will call you on your bullshit.
With regards,
Me.
