David Gelernter’s op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today hits on a theme we’ve emphasized here at American Greatness for the better part of two years now: Trump may be crass, he may be vulgar, he may be “unpresidential,” but he never pretended to be otherwise. He was elected to do a job, and, despite the chaos narrative surrounding his administration, he’s doing it.
But the main thing Gelernter identifies is just how normal Trump really is. That may be his greatest crime. Gelernter writes:
The difference between citizens who hate Mr. Trump and those who can live with him—whether they love or merely tolerate him—comes down to their views of the typical American: the farmer, factory hand, auto mechanic, machinist, teamster, shop owner, clerk, software engineer, infantryman, truck driver, housewife. The leftist intellectuals I know say they dislike such people insofar as they tend to be conservative Republicans.
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama know their real sins. They know how appalling such people are, with their stupid guns and loathsome churches. They have no money or permanent grievances to make them interesting and no Twitter followers to speak of. They skip Davos every year and watch Fox News. Not even the very best has the dazzling brilliance of a Chuck Schumer, not to mention a Michelle Obama. In truth they are dumb as sheep.
Mr. Trump reminds us who the average American really is. Not the average male American, or the average white American. We know for sure that, come 2020, intellectuals will be dumbfounded at the number of women and blacks who will vote for Mr. Trump. He might be realigning the political map: plain average Americans of every type vs. fancy ones.
The average Trump hater doesn’t just hate this president; he hates his supporters (“with their stupid guns and loathsome churches”—nice line!) as much or even more. (The liberal writer Jonathan Chait, who famously wrote, “I hate George W. Bush,” begs to disagree from his perch at New York magazine. Take it for what it is.) “[T]he Trump-hater truly does hate the average American—male or female, black or white,” Gelernter contends. “Often he hates America, too.” Read the whole thing.