Canadian writer talks about sexism, elitism and email scandals with The National’s Wendy Mesley
“I think he will be in jail within a year,” he told The National‘s Wendy Mesley in an interview.
Gladwell believes the candidate’s charitable donations and Trump University fraud case will be sources for legal headaches.
“I mean, he’s got so many legal problems, I suspect he will spend the next few years huddled with his lawyers,” he said.
.. Gladwell says some of Trump’s appeal comes from a sense of “unfiltered” authenticity with voters, but points to Trump’s privileged upbringing as evidence that he is a bona fide member of the elite.
“One guy is the child of privilege who grew up in a multi-million-dollar household, and has every advantage handed to him on a silver platter,” he said. “The other is a woman who came from the most ordinary of circumstances.”
.. Along with that privilege, Gladwell believes Trump’s standing in the polls is bolstered by strong resentment for his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.
“Trump caught 10 different breaks. This is not going to happen again,” he said.
.. So what’s the cause of Clinton’s deep unpopularity? Gladwell says it’s sexism, pure and simple.
“She is being penalized for having a series of traits that people find unacceptable in a woman,” he said, noting the negative perception of Clinton predates her email and Benghazi scandals. “This goes back two decades now.”
“To me, the most disturbing lesson about this election is that the United States is a good deal less open to women in positions of power than it would like to pretend that it is.”
Trump voters will not like what happens next – The Washington Post
We are so exhausted from thinking about this election, millions of people will take up leaf-raking and garage cleaning with intense pleasure.
.. Nobody chanted “Stronger Together.” It just doesn’t chant.
.. Alas for the Trump voters, the disasters he will bring on this country will fall more heavily on them than anyone else. The uneducated white males who elected him are the vulnerable ones, and they will not like what happens next.
.. We liberal elitists are now completely in the clear. The government is in Republican hands. Let them deal with him. Democrats can spend four years raising heirloom tomatoes, meditating, reading Jane Austen, traveling around the country, tasting artisan beers, and let the Republicans build the wall and carry on the trade war with China and deport the undocumented and deal with opioids, and we Democrats can go for a long , brisk walk and smell the roses.
.. Mr. Trump was the cruelest candidate since George Wallace. How he won on fear and bile is for political pathologists to study. The country is already tired of his noise, even his own voters. He is likely to become the most intensely disliked president since Herbert Hoover. His children will carry the burden of his name. He will never be happy in his own skin. But the damage he will do to our country — who knows? His supporters voted for change, and boy, are they going to get it.
After Trump, a Call for Political Correctness From the Right
Downplaying the racist views of Trump supporters is an evasion of the facts.
.. At 2 AM on Wednesday morning, once it became clear Donald Trump would be America’s next president, the conservative, anti-Trump, commentator Erick Erickson posted “An Open Letter to the Democrats.” He asked them not to rebuke Trump’s supporters. “Instead of condemning them and labeling them all bigots and racists and deplorables,” he wrote, “I hope you will try to relate to them, connect to them, and recognize their legitimate concerns.” Since Trump’s victory, other commentators have said similar things.
Sorry, but I disagree. Reconciliation is important. But not at the expense of truth.
.. almost half of Trump supporters said African Americans were more “violent” than whites. Forty percent said they were more “lazy.” In February, a Public Policy Polling survey found that 70 percent of Trump supporters in South Carolina opposed removing the Confederate battle flag from statehouse grounds. Trump supporters in South Carolina were also far more likely than the supporters of other GOP candidates to wish the South had won the Civil War and to consider whites a superior race.
.. the University of Michigan found that “hostile sexism”—reflected in support for statements like “Most women interpret innocent remarks or acts as being sexist” and “Many women are actually seeking special favors…under the guise of asking for equality”—predicts support for Trump extremely well.
.. For years, for instance, conservatives have insisted that economic distress does not cause jihadist terror. The real source, they insist, is Islamic culture. For decades, they’ve argued that economic distress does not cause unwed pregnancy and drug addiction among African Americans. The real explanation lies with inner city black culture.
.. among voters who earn less than $50,000, Clinton won handily. Trump won among those who make more than $250,000.
.. What differentiates Trump’s supporters is their resentment toward immigrants, Muslims, African Americans and feminists—anyone who challenges the hierarchies that reigned back when America was great.
.. But I thought conservatives like Erickson favored blunt truths over dishonest kumbaya.
Why Christians Overwhelmingly Backed Trump
Despite predictions to the contrary, Trump won among conservative women and evangelicals. Abortion may have been a major factor.
.. After the release of a video in which President-elect Donald Trump said he felt he could grab women’s genitals with impunity, many thought for sure two of his supporter contingents would abandon him: conservative women and Christians.
Instead, last night, both stuck by him.
.. And despite the vulgar language Trump was heard using in the Access Hollywood tape, which many social conservatives found off-putting, 81 percent of white evangelical Christians still voted for Trump, as did the majority of people who attend religious services once a week or more. (Catholics were slightly more divided than born-again protestants, but 60 percent still went for Trump.)