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I think Trump and the Republicans did actually succeed in welcoming in a truly diverse base of new and former voters: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/11/06/us/politics/p...

This is the Red Wave that was promised in 2020 and 2022 but failed to materialize.

Why didn't Harris and the Democrats pull it off? Well, they could start by not playing identity politics or calling Americans deplorables, Nazis, and garbage. Godwin's Law was in full swing for them.

I'm Japanese-American, demographically I should be a bleeding heart Democrat, but truthfully I can't stand their constant victimizing and divisive rhetoric and is why I voted for Trump and the Republicans in 2016, 2020, and 2024.

I can't stand their constant divisive rhetoric and is why I voted for Trump and the Republicans in 2016, 2020, and 2024.

I'd be curious what your gut reaction was to the comedian that Trump's team hired to open at his rally at Madison Square Garden, just this past week, who referred to Puerto Rico as "a floating island of garbage" (starts at about 0:16):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNBdYplmKcI

Would your reaction be the same if he had referred to, say, Japan in the same way?

As someone who pays attention to politics exceptionally closely, I wonder what you would call Trump's rhetoric if not divisive.
I call it practical, on point, gruff, and charismatic.

Practical and on point because Trump talks about things that the common American actually gives a shit about in a way that the common American can understand and relate to. This also has a side effect of uniting people under a common cause despite outward appearances.

Gruff because that style of speech appeals to most Americans who don't like being sophisticated, or worse: Being politically correct. Remember that being politically incorrect was one of the reasons Trump won in 2016, and it's still one of the reasons he won again today.

Charismatic because, well, I think everyone has to at least admit that the man draws people in despite any and all odds.

> uniting people under a common cause

If the common cause is being against other people, that's still divisive.

"They're eating the dogs, they're eating the cats"

Is that gruff or on point?

Don't worry he will fix the economy.
So when he calls the other side names and makes threats, he is practical and gruff.

His practical message was incoherent; it was more of an erring of grievances, conspiracy theories, and wild policy ideas that he seemed to have come up with while speaking.

I can't argue with the fact that it appealed to people, but you can't say it wasn't divisive because it was practical and gruff. Those two things don't rule out divisiveness.

BTW, I voted Republican in every election until Trump, and the reason why I didn't vote for him was due to how divisive he was.

I think you just happen to agree with his side of the divide.

> erring of grievances

I don't know whether this was deliberate or a typo, but it's funny and apt.

You literally voted for a guy who said things 1000x worse and this is your take?
I recall a vox pop in the Washington Post that included a woman who was voting for Trump because she thought he'd be better than Harris at standing up to Putin. Trump seems to attract a combination of low information voters and voters who are reluctant to give their real reasons for voting for him. Either way, don't expect the given reason to make a lot of sense.
He doesn't have a reason to hide why he was voting for him, so I'll chalk it up to the low information voters who vote on vibes.

In low-information voters' defense, it's been amazing to me as a non-American how Trump's literal dementia was not in the front pages of the media every single day. The complicity of the news media in normalizing a senile candidate should't go unnoticed.

>Trump's literal dementia

Nope.

I watched that now infamous three hour marathon podcast he did with Joe Rogan. That kind of performance is not something a demented man can do, full stop. To say nothing of his utterly crazy rally schedule, I legitimately don't know where he gets his energy.

Hate him if you want, that's your right and I will respect that. But Trump is terrifyingly sharp, especially for a man his age.

>The complicity of the news media in normalizing a senile candidate should't go unnoticed.

The media dumped Biden right quick after his old age couldn't be hidden anymore. That debate he had was straight up elder abuse by the media.

> I legitimately don't know where he gets his energy.

Drugs. Incoherent hour-long rants are the product of stimulants, the kind that give you the sort of terrible judgement that no one would ever want out of a presidential candidate.

> Well, they could start by not playing identity politics or calling Americans deplorables, Nazis, and garbage.

Why not, though? Clearly, it is a winning strategy for the Republicans. So why not adopt it as well?

The double standard for Trump vs ANYONE else is mind blowing.