Incompetent elites validate appeal of the Trump schtick

Donald Trump is gifted at provoking ­ridiculous overreaction. Picture: AFP

Democrats and traditional ­Republicans are flummoxed. How are four in 10 Americans ready to vote for Donald Trump? Democrats deplore Trump supporters as racists who must be saved from their ignorance. Traditional Republicans dream that some policy plan or another ­attack on Trump’s character might sway his voters.

We ought to listen instead. What motivates Trump supporters? Simple: They want their country back.

They might have lost a loved one in Iraq or Afghanistan. What was the sacrifice for? In the botched peace and withdrawal, they concluded that the foreign policy elite don’t know what they’re doing. They are hesitant about Ukraine, Iran and Taiwan ­because the same crew are in charge.

In the 2007-08 financial crisis, they lost a house, a job or a business. They learned the people in charge of the financial system don’t know what they’re doing. ObamaCare sent them a health insurance card that doesn’t work well when they get sick. They wonder: Do any of the policy wonks who promote this stuff ­actually use it themselves? They looked at Hillary Clinton and saw the way she said Trump supporters belong in a “basket of deplorables”. They gambled on Trump.

Then the establishment blew up. They saw the FBI harass Trump’s appointees, much of ­official Washington fashion itself “the resistance”, the Russia collusion hoax, years of pointless ­investigations.

In 2020 Covid hit. Trump supporters initially went along, trusting institutions. But the pandemic soon exposed the politicised incompetence of the medical and scientific establishment. Lockdowns destroyed lives. Officials made up rules and ramped up censorship. Inquiries about whether the virus came from a lab leak, or anything negative about masks or vaccines, became “misinformation” subject to censorship. Trump supporters saw media, tech companies and national security bigwigs suppress the news of the Hunter Biden laptop just in time for the election.

When schools went remote, parents found out what was going on inside the classrooms. Teachers were coaching students to hate themselves, their country and their religious traditions. The FBI treated angry parents as domestic terrorists. After October 7, Trump supporters learned that universities are incompetent and politicised, and disdain ­people like them.

Voters see the chaos of a dysfunctional immigration system spill into their neighbourhoods. They see crime overwhelming and shutting down cities where officials refuse to enforce laws.

They aren’t proud of Trump’s actions after the 2020 election. But 91 felony counts, some brought by prosecutors who campaigned on a promise to get Trump, and most unrelated to the election? Bonnie and Clyde didn’t have this much legal trouble! And now disqualifying Trump from the ballot? “Destroy democracy to save democracy” is no longer a joke. The existence of the deep state seems to be confirmed with every outrage.

Why aren’t Trump supporters properly grateful for Bidenomics? They understand the economy is just recovering to something like normal after the pandemic. They are smart enough to know big-spending programs will go down a rat hole into someone’s pocket. They know a mountain of debt must end badly. They see the river of wasted money and the surge of inflation, more evidence that macroeconomic elites don’t know what they’re doing. They don’t want to be force-fed electric cars and trucks.

Why are these voters inclined toward Trump? Well, there is no better way to stick it to the elites than to vote for the man who drives them most crazy.

This election isn’t about ­employment, spending promises or 12-point policy plans. Voters everywhere want the institutions of society and government to ­return to a semblance of apolitical competence.

What should Nikki Haley do? Show she understands this deep frustration. Explain how she will fix the country’s institutions and why Trump won’t or can’t. What should Trump do? Understand this election isn’t about him. He is but the vessel for these voters’ hopes for their country. His personal vendettas will keep him from office.

What should Democrats do? Stop screaming your talking points and hyperventilating that Trump is a dictator in waiting. Stop falling into the obvious trap. Trump is gifted at provoking ­ridiculous overreaction. You promised moderation, openness, conciliation and competence. You delivered the opposite. It is still possible to acknowledge, ­listen and pivot.

The Wall Street Journal

John H Cochrane is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution.