Trump Feeds off Fear, Hate and Ignorance

                             

E NOTES Kai EL'Zabar Executive Editor
E NOTES
Kai EL’Zabar
Executive Editor

Trump Feeds Off Fear, Hate and Ignorance

It continues to perplex many Hillary Clinton voters why so many repeat the sound bites heard over and over, “I don’t like or I don’t trust Hillary.” When pushed to justify why they support the Republican candidate for president, they rarely provide legitimate reasons.

A colleague recently shared with me that her older brother and sister shocked her by expressing their support for the Republican presidential candidate.  Her sister expressed that Donald Trump’s position on immigration resonated with her. She expressed observing a double standard where Blacks and Browns were concerned in association with the various social services and benefits awarded. From where she stood in California, American taxpayers were paying for the well-being of the children of illegal immigrants while denying the same for Blacks. Her brother described Hillary as a criminal but did not give an in-depth explanation.

The failure of voters to fact check, to take time to read up on the candidates’ campaign platform, backgrounds, their past work, their voting habits and their overall integrity is common, and too many rely on the popularized sound bites used by an opponent to appeal to the basic sensibilities, like “Crooked Hillary.” All the opponent has to do is touch a nerve that has an extended effect upon the listener regarding something that they have issue with, and they are won over.

The idea that America is no longer great because all the jobs are abroad where American manufacturers have gone is an answer the unemployed and untrained prefer to accept than face the reality that they may need to pursue new skills. 

Inspires With Empty Promises

The point is that Trump is a master at manipulating the fears of the sector of society that is displaced, unemployed, unskilled and poor. His agenda is to appeal to those who feel rejected by the American government and lack trust in it and the politicians.  He inspires this group with empty promises of extreme change that only he, the outsider, can make happen.

Unfortunately, Trump makes it seem that numerous promises he makes will be done because he will execute it, denying the necessity that they require cooperation from the legislative branch — Senate and House of Representatives.

He reinforces this by driving home the point by attacking Clinton by repeating over and over that she has had 30 years to change things but she was too weak to get the job done.

Those familiar with how the government functions know that no senator or U.S. representative can change the law alone, and yet he has created the scenario that he can and Hillary can’t. He has built himself up as tough and Hillary as weak.  He has managed to convince his supporters that Hillary is a liar and he is the truth-bearer, which we know is the farthest thing from reality. All one has to do is to listen to him for five minutes and he exposes himself as a pathological liar.

But more important is that people who support him don’t seem to care. It matters not that he has insulted people, Hispanics, Muslims, women, Chinese, Blacks, the disabled, veterans, war heroes, the media, President Obama. 

His failure to acknowledge Obama as the U.S. president, demanding that he produce his birth certificate, should be most disturbing. Only recently did he acknowledge that Obama was born in the United States.

During the 2016 first presidential debate, when asked why he continued to bring up the birther issue long after the president had produced his birth certificate in 2011, all he could say was, “I say nothing,” and that he was proud that he had made Obama produce it and adding that he should have long before he did. He offered no apology to the president, to Black people or to America.

This was a key moment in the reveal of who he is. Understand that no other president has been asked to produce a birth certificate. A few weeks ago I charged Trump with using that as an opportunity to prove from his perspective, his superiority and his ability to assert power over Obama by making him produce his papers like freed slaves were required to do.

Trump was perhaps the most intentional he’s ever been when he spoke specifically and with great focus, directly appealing to the fear mongers — whites who are racists, white supremacists, bigots and misogynists.

A Liar, Clear and Simple

He has been caught on tape making lewd and numerous inappropriate statements about women, veterans, heroes, the disabled, Muslims, Mexicans, Blacks and yet denies that he said it even with the evidence as proof that he did. He’s a liar, clear and simple. Still, people appear hypnotized by him.

Worst is his appeal to the Russians and Vladimir Putin, whom he has praised over America and Obama’s leadership.  In July he encouraged publicly, when the hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s emails made headlines, that Russia  continue sabotaging the Democratic Party: “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.” Trump delegates also fought to insert pro-Russia planks into the Republican Party platform at its national convention in July. Then he excuses himself as having said it kiddingly.

And America let him get away with it. Gave him a pass. Really? And you want to grill Hillary about her emails?

As recently as Monday, information has come out highlighting possible troubling connections of Trump to the Putin regime in Russia.

The New York Post reported that, according to sources, the former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and ex “core” aide Rick Gates have financial ties to a biometric security company that lobbied the Putin administration on behalf of technology that would help it spy on its citizens.

“It raises a lot of questions about national security and what should have been publicly disclosed to get a better handle on ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government,” a White House official told the New York Post about Manafort’s lobbying ties.

Most important, Trump’s potential ties to the Putin regime have been a significant issue in this presidential election. Trump has taken fire for praising Putin, most notably in September when he said, “He’s been a leader far more than our president has been a leader.”

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