What will it take for trump supporters to hold the President accountable? In the last several days, Trump has falsely accused Obama and other former presidents of not reaching out to the families of fallen soldiers. He even attempted to smear a congresswoman with false stories and accused a gold star widow of lying. But despite this unprecedented and reckless behavior, Trump’s base refuses to condemn his actions
Never Trump's fault
Trump’s administration has been plagued by endless controversy—mostly self-inflicted—since day one, yet the president has faced zero consequences.
The majority of Republicans seem to be indifferent to his behavior no matter how depraved. If he lies or fails at something, the blame is immediately shifted to the “fake media” or the “obstructionist Democrats,” and Trump once again avoids culpability.
The bar for this president is so low that even minor accomplishments that will be routine for any other president are met with uproarious enthusiasm from the Republican base. If Trump somehow manages to read off a teleprompter without praising Nazis or telling a group of boy scouts an inappropriate story about yacht orgies, his base treats the speech like it was the Sermon on the Mount. Of course, this isn’t too surprising because when you are so used to your child failing everything, passing a test with a “C” is worthy of celebration.
Things must change
The lack of pushback from Trump’s base or GOP leadership is downright scary because it gives him no incentive to change. At this pace, it is only a matter of time before he does something genuinely reckless that may put many Americans in danger. (This man has the launch codes!) The only way Trump will improve, aside from impeachment, is if he starts to lose the support of his base.
So how do we get Trump supporters to realize his behavior is unacceptable? The solution to this problem, just like the solution to all of the life’s challenges, can be found in a Matthew McConaughey movie.
In the movie A Time to Kill, McConaughey plays a young lawyer tasked with defending a black client who killed two white guys that assaulted his daughter.
McConaughey delivers a persuasive closing argument where he describes the horrible details of everything that happened to the little black girl, but to add a little twist, he tells the all-white, deep-south jury to imagine the little girl is white. Spoiler alert: the speech is compelling enough to acquit McConaughey’s client. Perhaps this same approach can work on Trump supporters. Let’s give it a try.
All right Trump supporters, I want you to close your eyes and imagine a president who starts childish fights with SNL and Arnold Schwarzenegger. I want you to picture this same president inviting Russians into the Whitehouse and sharing highly classified information with them. A president who constantly lies, even about trivial things such as inauguration crowd size or the number of times they have been featured on a magazine cover.
A president who breaks campaign promises and won’t release their taxes. A president who ignores scientific consensus and denies facts. A president who doesn’t understand any of the policies they are promoting and refuses to learn. A president who disparages our allies while complimenting despots. And a president who has repeatedly insulted veterans and their families. Now, imagine that the president we are talking about is Hillary Clinton.
Is this behavior still okay?