Is there a more dangerous leader than one who encourages and rewards violence against those who do not bend to his will? And is there a more dangerous society than one which rewards that behavior by electing the leader?
By pardoning the insurrectionists, Trump rewarded those who beat the police in his name. During Trump’s first term, I had faith that people would see this kind of behavior, understand the danger he poses, and resist. Then, when he lost the second election, I naively believed Americans had in fact come to understand the unique threat of Trump.
I was wrong. And so this term, I don’t have that faith. More American voters voted for Trump than any other candidate. Additionally, every voter who abstained was a vote for the winner, no matter who the winner may be. Every non-voter was a vote for Trump.
American voters consciously voted for Trump knowing *exactly* who he is and what he is capable of. The majority of America is okay with Trump, and that’s something that I need to come to terms with.
I think it’s hitting me at my core because of how much Truth matters to me. I used to believe that most people want the truth—that only a smallish percentage of people were liars and most people preferred the truth.
But witnessing the support for Trump, which grew even as he stood up and made up the most absurd lies (Haitians are eating your pets perhaps making the top of the list), culminating in the majority of Americans around me rewarding this liar, I realized: Truth is valued by the minority.
A shrinking number of Americans want to live with Truth, facts, and science; while a growing number of Americans support reframing events like an Insurrection, and they stand idly by as Trump rewards those who beat police officers in his name.
A large number of Americans choose to regurgitate that Trump is a man of Law & Order despite his being a felon who stoked an attack on the U.S. Capitol.
I am fearful of the impact of Trump reinstating the soldiers who refused the lawful order to get a Covid vaccination. He is protecting and rewarding military members who refuse lawful orders in his name. He is creating a loyal militia within the U.S. military, who will obey the individual Donald Trump if he gives an unlawful order. As a veteran, that scares me.
I don’t accept the excuse that people are being conned by Trump. People are 100% aware that he lies to them. They are not being conned. They are not being duped. They know exactly who Trump is and they want him to lead America. They want the ugly lies and malice he’s bringing to the table. He’s not conning people—he’s just plain winning people over at this point.
Every woman in a “Women for Trump” t-shirt knew he wanted to control their bodies. Until we have full bodily autonomy, women are (again) not whole citizens. Nearly half of women still voted for Trump. They don’t care about his sexual assault history, his feeling that he can just grab their pussies. None of that mattered.
Every Latino in a “Latinos for Trump” T-shirt knew how he felt about Latinos.
Every Black voter knew Trump was against policies that promote equity and that he brought on government force to quell Black Lives Matter protests. And yet he made gains among Black voters.
Every cop knew he supported the insurrectionists who beat the Capitol police, but support amongst the police unions didn’t suffer.
Every white male who voted for Trump knew they were bolstering their position at the expense of their wives, daughters, and nonwhite associates.
Every voter of Christian faith knew he’s a crude and outwardly cruel man whose behavior is not compatible with the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. I went to Catholic School and have a solid grasp on Theology and can assure you: Trump ain’t Jesus. But Christians continue to support and praise him as a man of Faith.
And that’s what I’ve lost in my fellow countrymen: Faith. Faith that people care about Truth. Faith that people care about Equality. Faith that people care about Freedom. Faith that people care about the well-being of every American, not just the Americans who look, sound, vote, or behave like them.
And when people try to convince me that we’re more alike than different, I have to disagree. The values of Truth, equity, and individual autonomy occupy too large a part of my core to have much in common with a second-term Trump voter. I barely had anything in common with first-term Trump voters, but I could find some comfort in the thought that maybe people didn’t understand what Trump was like and what he was going to do to America.
What this Administration is going to do to the LGBTQ+ community and women, to immigrants (legal or not), to disabled Americans, and to other marginalized groups ain’t gonna be pretty. And every Trump voter understood that when they voted for him.
I am very worried about every federally-touched program for women, for nonwhites, for the LGBTQ+ community, and for disabled Americans. Maternal health? Sorry, it doesn’t support men, too. Suicide in the LGBTQ+ community? Sorry, it doesn’t support straight people, too. Paralyzed veterans? Sorry, it doesn’t support civilians who can walk. A lot of programs are about to be in jeopardy because middle-aged white men needed to be coddled.
I’m also worried, after watching the President blame DEI policies for causing a plane crash, that there will be a decline in treatment of disabled individuals. That the strides we’ve made as a nation in destigmatizing mental health are coming to a halt. That throwing disabled Americans under the bus will become common and we will see a resurgence of ableist language.
Every time Trump links DEI to a disaster, even if he just hints at it (not the case in this explicit attack), he is trying to strengthen the image of and support for whites, males, and able-bodied Americans. He is trashing DEI because doing so bolsters a white supremacist patriarchy.
While I’ve come to recognize over time the lies we have been told (and tell ourselves) about democracy, freedom, and meritocracy, until November 2024, I still believed in my heart that America was always moving forward, and that the majority of citizens wanted to progress as a society that ultimately would take care of all of its members regardless of where they were born, the color of their skin, or how much money they had in the bank.
I no longer have faith that we are moving forward. I no longer believe that the majority of America wants equality. We are regressing as a society, and it makes me sad.
I will keep highlighting and protesting injustice, and uplifting marginalized communities, but my faith in my fellow American isn’t as strong as it once was. It won’t break me, but it’s not an easy thing to come to terms with.