Yesterday, Tim Kaine backed up running mate and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s assertion that half of Donald Trump’s supporters belong in a “basket of deplorables.” The Democratic vice presidential nominee expanded on Clinton’s recent comments in an interview with NPR:
“There are some who are motivated by dark emotions, that are not in accord with American values. When you have David Duke doing robo-calls telling people to vote for Donald Trump, which he did just a couple of weeks ago, that is highly troubling. And she was basically saying some of Donald Trump’s voters are motivated by these dark emotions that really are out of step with American values.”
Quite so. Clinton herself has since apologized for her statement. But Kaine did the right thing by clarifying — not denying — Clinton’s central point: Trump is courting the most extreme factions of the Right.
Clinton herself spelled out exactly who she meant when she referred to these “deplorables:”
“The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic — you name it.”
Fake Outrage
While the comment inspired significant criticism on the Right, it’s hard to tell how much of this was a knee-jerk reaction to a factual and relatively harmless comment, and how much was real anger. It’s getting harder to tell. Remember, these are the people who whine about President Obama drinking coffee while saluting a Marine.
And besides, isn’t the Right supposed to appreciate “straight talk” and “telling it like it is”? Apparently that only applies to members of their own tribe.
False Analogies
Some commentators compared Clinton’s remarks to Mitt Romney’s 2012 charge that “47 percent” of Americans who pay no taxes and vote for Democrats because they are “dependent upon government.” It’s laughable to compare a smart, seasoned politician like Clinton to a mediocre businessman like Mitt Romney.
But it’s even more absurd when you compare the content of the two statements. While Clinton condemned all of the ugliest instincts in American society, Romney directly condemned our most financially vulnerable citizens.
But whatever. Even if we pretend Trump’s base isn’t shamelessly racist, we still know that he is. Here’s Kaine again, reminding us why it’s important to challenge Trump and others who peddle his brand of hateful speech:
“I think silence in the face of divisive, bigoted comments allows it to grow. And so you can’t be silent about it. I think you have to call out comments or behavior that are contrary to our values, and if you don’t, you actually allow it to grow. And that’s what she was doing.”
