You Know a Lot of Trump Voters

In 2016 when I sent out my usual election year essays, I heard back from people telling me that they appreciated the essays but had no one to send them to because they didn't know any Trump voters. I beg to differ. They did know Trump voters, and you know Trump voters right now. They're hiding in plain sight. They simply won't tell you they're voting for Trump because they're ashamed to admit it. Here is a case in point:

Some of you have probably seen the NY Times opinion piece that documented the words of a closet Trump voter. In case you did not, here are the highlights. This is a 50 year old woman from the LGBTQ community who is well-educated, well-informed, and voted for Bernie Sanders in 2016. She is now going to vote for Trump, but she will not share this information with any of her relatives or friends. She remained nameless in the paper other than her first name which I believe was Sarah. But she was happy as the dickens to explain why she was going to vote for Trump.

She had four reasons:

1. Her 401K went up 19.6%
2. The stock market went up 35%
3. Gas prices are the same
4. She has private health insurance from her employer

When questioned about several of Trump's past actions, here are her responses to:

Trump's relationship with Russia : "The Clintons' fingerprints are all over this. I'm really glad we have Bill Barr as A.G. to look into it."

Trump's performance on the world stage: "Everyone kowtows to Iran because they're crazy. Now we have our own bit of crazy."

Trump's admission that he has grabbed women by their genitals: "Didn't bother me at all. For every cad out there, there's equally a gold digger who will let you do it."

So when I say that you know a Trump voter, I do mean it. You know many more than you think you do. But for those voters who are clinging to the joy of their 401k's, I would like to point out one cogent detail:

The Federal Reserve has, so far pumped $3.5 trillion (yes, that's correct....trillion) into the stock market. They are buying corporate bonds. This is the agency that determines interest rates and determines how much money is printed. So as Trump voters dance gaily around their 401k's, they might want to consider what's going to happen to them and to the stock market in general once the Federal Reserve stops pumping money into the market to artificially inflate it. Trump, of course, is using this to crow about how well "the economy" is doing. Except...the stock market and 401k's are not the economy.

The one quality that Sarah-the-Trump-voter and the other closet Trump voters share with Trump himself is greed. Please note that I am not referring to Trump loyalists, to people who will vote Republican even if Lucifer himself was holding the ballot, to people who are just now awakening from a coma that fell upon them in the summer of 2015, to people who haven't figured out that Q-Anon is a hoax and "Q" himself is a man who lives in the Philippines having the time of his life, to white supremacists whose chimes of racial hatred ring every time Trump opens his mouth, to the people who revel in Trump's style because he "tells it like it is", or to those who believe that Jesus has sent Trump to save America from...whatever it needs saving from in the eyes of those who believe Jesus has sent him here. I am referring to the closet Trump voters and the open Trump voters who are voting for him out of base self-interest, knowing that he is a liar, a fraud, a tax evader, a draft dodger, a coward, a money launderer, and a clear and present danger to the country. The closet Trump voters do not care about those in poverty, those suffering from the effects of COVID, those who will lose their health care, those who are in danger from bigots and racists and xenophobes and misogynists. They do not care that the GOP "tax cut" went to billionaires and that positions of power and influence in government were handed out willy-nilly to big money donors who knew nothing and still know nothing about the agencies they supposedly run. What these Sarah-the-Trump-voter and other closet Trump voters care about is money: making it, keeping it, and definitely keeping it away from anyone who might need it.

I realize I sound passionate and on edge. That's because I am passionate and on edge. I'm not asking you to send this on to the closet Trump voters because, believe me, they've made up their minds and, also believe me, they do not care. What I am saying is to send this on to any and every voter you know.

If voting is open in your state, please vote NOW. If you've received your ballot in the mail, please fill it out NOW and make sure you've put it into the correct mailing sleeve and into the envelope and make sure you've signed it and used the correct postage if you have to use postage in your state. If you can, personally take it to where the ballots in your county are counted; if you absolutely must vote on election day, take food, water, and--if you have it--a portable stool and be prepared for long lines; if anyone intimidates you or tries to prevent you from voting (through bullying, lying, threatening or any other means) either call 911 or inform a poll watcher because there will be poll watchers all over America.

We cannot win over the loyalist Trump voters and we definitely cannot win over the closet-Trump voters. But we have a sure-fire action that we can take: We can overwhelm them and defeat them by voting ourselves.

Elizabeth George