I don't hate Trump; I hate Trumpism

I have been having an extended one-on-one conversation with a Trump supporter about what's at stake in this election. Our discussions are sometimes rich and enlightening. However, my interlocutor is a reluctant participant: he often grabs onto excuses to stop discussing substance, sometimes trying to de-legitimize my "facts" because of their source.

(You know: "fake news" and all that.)

But the other day it wasn't about my sources. Rather, it was about me as an impartial or even rational observer.

We were discussing Jordan Peterson's distinction between "collectivist" thinking and focusing on the "sovereign individual." Peterson seems to favor "sovereign individual" perspective. I get the impression that Peterson (and my interlocutor) believe that conservatives (the GOP?) are more attuned to the sovereign individual than are "leftist liberals" who tend toward "collectivist" thinking. (However, Peterson does admit in at least one context that both ways of thinking belong in the conservative mindset and in a well-functioning society.)

(In my view, Peterson here is trying to distance himself from explicitly racist white nationalism, in part by painting his point of view in moderate terms to make it more palatable to a wider audience. Actually, this is not a bad strategy for a scholar to take!)

I wrote to my interlocutor that I have problems with Peterson's implication that Republicans today are superior to "left-liberals" because of their explicit devotion to individualism:

The GOP today, or should I say the “Trump party” today, isn’t as devoted to the individualistic principle as people in the GOP seem to think. I despise the present-day GOP in the ways that it deviates so violently from longstanding conservative principles. The GOP today is a tribal party, which seeks to exclude (to "other", to distance itself from) people who don’t adhere to certain dogmas, not least of which is the dogma that Trump is a “true conservative.” The tribal GOP especially excoriates left-liberal people who identify themselves with a particular identity, such as “feminist,” or “queer,” or “BLM,” claiming that they are, by their allegiance to a "political identity," declaring themselves as “collectivist” in their thinking. (Trump even labels some of these identity groups as "haters, in a classic example of his tendency to project his own beliefs on to others.)  

A less fraught way to describe liberals' identification with certain political identity groups might be "intersectional social justice"

I continued:

A lot of Trump’s rhetoric is truly hateful: for example, his reference in a September 2020 speach to the “good genes” of his supporters in Minnesota, especially when juxtaposed to his disdain for refugees of color (South Asian and African), has echoes of eugenics. 

Here, as elsewhere, Trump is *using* the (often racist) hatred of his supporters towards others as a political lever to increase or at least shore-up support for him. This, to me, is truly anti-American.

I see additional “collectivist/tribal” thinking in the “America First” rhetoric of today’s Trump party. If the US is, as it has long tried to be, a “beacon of light” in a world of darkness, or a “shining city upon a hill,” then the USA has a duty to work for the betterment of all of humanity. (Forgive me for actually believing in humanity as a collective. I admit this is speciesism, but if I were to focus on all of life or The Earth as a whole, this discussion would become a discussion of environmentalism rather than of Trumpism.) US humanitarianism should apply to a wide variety of world issues and problems, ranging from climate change to supporting democracy, to providing financial and food assistance, and to offering a “refuge” for “refugees” who are fleeing political and economic persecution. These used to be US ideals, not limited to a particular party.

Trump's admitted "nationalism" is tribal in that it sees "Americans" as a special group requiring special protection from the "barbarians" (my word) at the gate. Some say that Trump's nationalism is "white nationalism," but even if it's not exactly that, it does target black and brown people--especially those who are poor--for special "othering."

At first, my interlocutor was more interested in disagreeing with me about my characterizations of Jordan Peterson than my characterizations of the GOP and of Trump. After some prompting, my interlocutor responded to what I wrote:

The first “problem” I see in what you said about the GOP is that it’s become the “Trump party.” Trump did not run on the GOP platform. He ran against their platform. He ran against the establishment with include the GOP and the Democrats. He ran against the Washington thought process and he won against the GOP before winning the Presidency.

Okay...then let's just dispense with the label "GOP" and call it the "Trump Party," i.e. those politicians--in fact, almost entirely from the GOP--who support Trump again and again and again.

My interlocutor continued:

As to your digression into tribalism, I can’t really comment on that because it is itself so divisive. You seem to be demonizing conservatives because you hate Trump so much and I just can’t equate the two that way because of the reasons I already stated.

Now I'm not sure where I "demonized" conservatives. Those who adhere consistently to conservative principles deserve praise. Many of them are principled Never-Trumpers. But so-called "conservatives" who support Trump are, in my mind, abandoning their conservative principles. Trump is no conservative. (On this, apparently, my interlocutor agrees.)

(An aside: if a conservative is very clear that they are ONLY supporting Trump to fill the court with conservative judges, we might cut them a little slack for choosing Trump as the "lesser of two evils" to attain something that they could absolutely never get with a Democratic administration. But if they are using Trump to get judges and also ignoring the many problems facing Americans today (Hello, GOP-controlled Senate and especially Mitch McConnell!), they're just venal opportunists and should be condemned as such.}

Now, what about my interlocutor's claim that I "hate Trump so much" that it causes me to "demonize" conservatives, among other alleged failures of seeing and knowing? The argument here seems to be (and is supported passim elsewhere in the conversation) that I am "blinded" by hate to the point that I can't see that good of conservatism, or the GOP, or Trump.

This accusation is different from the "Fake News" claim. It is no longer about my sources, my values, or my political positions. It makes the argument about hiding behind my negative emotions to hurl unfounded accusations at Trump while refusing to look critically as Democrats and Never-Trumpers.

I find "hate" a dirty word and an ugly reality. Yes, I used it in the conversation. I said that Trump uses the word "haters" to describe members of certain identity groups, including BLM. (This is a fact, not a personal emotion on my part.) I also decried "a lot of Trump's rhetoric" as "truly hateful." I also said that Trump is using the hatred towards others of some of his supporters (and intended supporters) as a political ploy. In speaking their negative emotions out loud, he has become an almost God-like hero. He "tells it like it is," according to some who admire him.

But I NEVER said "I hate Trump," at least not in the conversation that I've been describing. I can't say I've never EVER said "I hate Trump," because I know I have, in fits of anger and agitation.

But I don't hate Trump. That is, I don't hate Trump personally. I don't KNOW him personally, for one thing. I only know the persona that he exhibits on TV and the analysis of that persona by journalists and critics. I also have no need to hate Trump as a person. I can hate the way Trump attempts to fulfill his role as President without hating him.

I do "hate" a good number of the things Trump has done, especially his apparent willingness to lie repeatedly, but also the crass (seemingly disingenuous) ways that he conforms to the expectations of his (potential) supporters, including white evangelical Christians. I hate the ways that Trump has alienated America's traditional allies. I hate the ways that he has cozied up to dictators. I hate his tax cuts for the wealthy and for corporations. I hate his efforts to undermine the public schools, the ways he demonizes "democrat" governors and mayors and even cities and states, and his administration's intention to void the Affordable Care Act. I hate his efforts to cut environmental regulations. I hate his withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord. I hate his failure to consistently ask Americans to wear masks and to socially distance. I hate his treatment of experts like Anthony Fauci and Robert Redfield. 

In short, I hate Trumpism with as much political passion as I've ever had regarding anything.

There may be some Trump supporters who say that a lot of what I hate in Trump's words is, well, just an words. Instead, look at what he does, they say. They say that Trump isn't really anti-science; that he actually does understand climate change and forest management; that we shouldn't take his anti-refugee rhetoric literally (or even seriously) because he's actually pro-immigrant; that he actually values women and people of color; that he brings financial resources to veterans, non-profits, and poor people. Trump supporters find all sorts of examples of Trump doing honorable things.

I think a lot of this is cherry picking and ignoring the forest for a tree or two. In general, I think the effects of Trump's policies have been terrible for a lot of people. And, like I said, I don't know Trump "behind the scenes." I don't know how he acts when the cameras aren't on him. I don't know what he truly believes. (After all, he was a Republican before he was a Democrat before he was a Republican--or whatever he was when he ran for President.)

Perhaps the writers who claim to know The Donald well and who have been exposing him in recent publications are themselves ignoring the good things he's doing or misstating their experiences for political expediency. Perhaps he's actually kind and generous, humorous, charming, a lover of children and dogs, devoted to the Constitution and democracy, committed to the proposition that all people are created equal, caring about the needs of the poor and of disabled people, and working for wanting quality public education (through choice and vouchers) for all.

Perhaps everything I think I know about Trump and Trumpism is wrong; perhaps I truly am blinded by hatred, and just don't know it. Perhaps I would support Trump if only I could see him as he really is.

How would I know that I'm biased to my core, not seeing the reality of this President? How can I remove the scales from my eyes to see him clearly? What should I watch or read or contemplate to repair my heart and mind?

What do you think?