Trump Love

In September, 2016 Gallup opened a report about a recent survey by remarking

The lead reason U.S. registered voters give for their choice of president in the 2016 election involves not liking something about the opposing candidate.  All told, 28% of voters -- including equal proportions of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump supporters -- cite reasons such as believing the other candidate is dishonest, unqualified or of poor temperament

Readers of the entire article would have eventually found the acknowledgement "Still, the majority of each candidate's voters do offer a positive reason for backing that person."

However, there remains a widespread belief that a huge number of Americans voted for Donald J. Trump primarily because they disliked the opponent. And that's simply not accurate.

Consider an apparently completely unrelated event which occurred last Thursday at Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, NJ, when comedienne Wanda Sykes

opened with a series of jokes about President Donald Trump.

Sykes began her set poking fun at Trump's assertion that world leaders at his recent United Nations address were laughing with him, not at him. (If that was the case, "What was the joke he told?" Sykes quipped).

She also joked that, while other presidents seemed to have aged at a faster-than-typical rate while in office, the general public seemed to be aging more quickly during Trump's administration. Trump hadn't aged a bit, Sykes deadpanned.

A few minutes after the show began, some attendees began heckling the comedian.

"Do some comedy!" one attendee shouted.

"Too political!" another yelled from the crowd.

Sykes, a frequent Trump critic, paused briefly to ask what displeased attendees had expected to see at her show, and continued with her set.

Attendees said they believed one of the hecklers and his party were removed from the theater by staff. A few said they walked out because they thought it was unfair the heckler had been asked to leave.

The walkout erupted in the theater lobby with yelling and heated arguments as attendees turned against staff and against each other.

Some show-goers demanded refunds from staff, others protested being thrown out of the venue, and still others argued with each other over politics and whether Sykes' subject matter was appropriate.

Several said they left because of what they saw as an attack on the president. They said they asked staff in the lobby for a refund but were refused or asked to call the theater during business hours.

Others who remained said they enjoyed the show and had been entertained by the comedy — even the jokes made at Trump's expense.

"She (Sykes) made her point — she's a black lesbian," said Gabby Young of Brick, quoting a comment Sykes made after she was heckled. "You knew what you were gonna get. You should have known that it wasn't going to be pro-Trump."

Theater staff at the venue Thursday said they could not comment on the incident.

Christine Delancey of Old Bridge, NJ, one of the "more than twelve" attendees who walked out, stated 

No, no politics.. I paid for a comedy show...first of all, you don't bash our president. I am not a Trump supporter, and he is my president, and I would never bash my president.

Delancey walked out of a show she had paid for because she believed that criticism from a black lesbian who had previously made anti-Trump remarks on stage.  And she claimed that she does not like the President.

That's hard to believe, made all the harder because Delancey did not maintain "I am not a Trump supporter but he is my president."


  She stated "I am not a Trump supporter and he is my president." And is a strange conjunction for someone claiming "I am not a (Trump) supporter."

Oh, she almost certainly is. And so are a lot of the voters who told Gallup in mid-September 2016 that they really don't like Donald Trump (or Hillary Clinton) but expected to vote for him because of his opponent. 

The claim is bogus. People like Donald Trump; a lot of them. Many are foolish, but they voted for him because they like him and they still do.

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