It was a few months ago when Bill Maher (video below) stated, I naively believed, the obvious. Two days after the Capitol insurrection, he remarked
I keep wrestling on this show with the hard questions of how do Americans, all of us, learn to share a country with ass_ _ _ _ _ you can't stand. I've preached and still do that you can hate Trump but not all the people who like him. Seventy-four million Trump voters are not self-deporting and neither are we.
Trump voters are not self-deporting and neither are we. This is analogous to the chliched "we're all in this together," oft-heard pertaining to the pandemic, grating to many conservatives, unrealistic to many liberals, yet with an undeniable truth. And it is true that Trump voters are no more likely to emigrate from the USA as, say, Democrats were after the election or re-election of George W. Bush.
I didn't realize "we ought to be able to live with people we disagree with" would be controversial. However, it appears that there are anti-Trump people who either expect Trump voters to "self-deport" or at least who believe their opinions don't matter.
Woman who, almost unbelievingly, was once a journalist:
When I tell you the @nyt struggles mightily... here’s a good example. https://t.co/vcHrkJIHwV
— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) May 24, 2021
As part of its series on "George Floyd and America," the NYT "wanted to see if some conservative voters had shifted their thinking on Mr. Floyd and the continuing racial justice movement; Republican support for Black Lives Matter briefly rose after his death" and sponsored a focus group of Trump voters. However disturbingly, most tweeters agreed with O'Brien:
When will news orgs stop acting as if Trump followers are the only "real" Americans?
They do not. Those news organizations actually dwell on anti-Trump individuals, though they aren't categorized tht way. Nonetheless, they are the "black and brown" and white people active in the push for hate-crimes legislation, police reform legislation, expanding access to vaccines and other health care to underserved communities; and against environmental degredation.
When will journalists spend half as much time writing articles about the other 70% of Americans who do NOT worship Trump?
See above.
I don’t need to hear anyone’s perspective on the public murder of George Floyd. His murder was viewed around the world. Theres no nuanced discussion. Full stop...Period...Drop the mic...please spare us!
If the murder was significant enough to spur millions to protest in the streets, energize public officials who fight racial injustice, help fuel the push for criminal justice reform, and give a police officer- a police officer!- a lengthy prison sentence, it's sufficiently important to measure any particular backlash.
trump supporters have much more in common with the nyt than they do with George Floyd.
My guess is that the ten (and maybe the rest) who blamed "the media for the fear that the Black community have towards the police" wouldn't agree. And the other four also probably would be angry at being lumped in with The New York Times on anything.
Why in the world does ANYONE care what they think? We could ask kindergartners what they think? Or maybe villagers in Mongolia ? They’re all about as equally qualified to make social commentary on George Floyd’s legacy.
We care- or should- because not all Trump voters believe exactly the same things, nor do they always vote as they do for the same reasons. They're not going to accomodate Soledad O'Brien (as well as like-minded individuals) by packing up and emigrating. And, well, they are Americans.
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