‘All in’ for Trump: These White men, the strongest Trump supporters, say they can’t be swayed
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
SANDUSKY, Ohio — The parade of boats was decked out in flags and banners screaming support for President Trump, led by a barge that had been used in previous summers for bikini-tops-optional parties on Sandusky Bay but was now laden with 10 cannons and a crane holding up a 22-by-15-foot American flag. It flapped in the wind as the cannons fired.
There were motorcycles and pickup trucks on the shore, and an antique military plane in the sky. Trump flags seemed to far outnumber American ones; at least one Confederate flag flew among them. The dozen or so men firing the cannons wore red hats embroidered with Trump's name and praise for the president. They shouted strings of excited obscenities as they marveled at the hundreds of boats behind them.
"There are still people coming to get into the parade!" exclaimed Shaun Bickley, 54, the barge owner who organized the parade and would later change into a black tank top with "Trump 2020" and an expletive written around an American flag-patterned skull. "Man, do you see all of these people?"
"Act like we're being fired on!" yelled Jeff Karr, 59, who dropped out of high school to join the Ohio National Guard and spent 36 years in the military, including the Army Reserve, with two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Another volley of explosions sounded.
Blue-collar men such as Bickley, Karr and their buddies on the barge are the core of Trump's base of support, and their enthusiasm for the president has only deepened since they first voted for him, even as Trump has driven away some voters, especially college graduates and women. As illustrated by the masculinity-oozing boat parade, the Trump Party is largely a party of men — especially White men without college degrees and especially those over the age of 40.
A majority of White men have long sided with Republican presidential nominees, and they voted for Trump at about the same rates as in previous years, according to exit polls — but Trump won the votes of White men without college degrees by the highest rate in at least 36 years, or as long as comparable exit polling has existed. Four years into a tumultuous presidency, these men consistently give the president his highest approval ratings, and polls show they're happier with the economy and the direction of the country than White women or voters of color.
Their connection with Trump is cultural and emotional as much as political, closely intertwined with their lives and identities. His enemies are their enemies, his grievances are their grievances. They live by the rules he lives by: that concepts such as White male privilege or structural racism and sexism are to be scoffed at, that the working class, Christians and Trump supporters have been victimized, that it's okay to be moved to tears by a love for the country and its president but that liberals are crybabies and snowflakes. They pride themselves on being self-made and see Trump, whose life has been nothing like their own, as a once-in-a-lifetime leader.
Bickley, who owns two marinas and a shoreline construction company, gets frustrated by the suggestion that White men such as him were born more powerful, or with advantages.
"There's 8 billion of us on the planet. There's only 780 million White people. . . . So I'm personally really tired of hearing that I'm a majority, that I'm a superpower White privilege kid," Bickley said. "My mom and dad had nothing. . . . I have been working my whole life.
"Now, here I am, 54, and I've got a lot of stuff. . . . Somebody says: 'Look at all of this stuff you have, you must have been privileged.' Oh, really? Really? I've been working since I was 10."
Bickley says that while he's now "on the top of the food chain," he remembers the years he spent as a lowly worker, helping make other people millions of dollars. He thinks Trump has that same mentality. Trump's strategy for winning reelection relies on finding more White men who support him but didn't vote in 2016, as well as pulling in more votes from Black and Latino men.
"The people who love Trump can't be swayed by anything," Bickley said. "If you love Trump, you're all in. There's nobody on the fence. You're in."
Those on the barge on the Saturday before Labor Day are labeled as "White working-class men" by journalists, political strategists and university researchers — people in professions that some of these Ohio men don't consider real work, as they define it: the sort that's physical and might get your hands dirty. That's the work most of them have been doing since they were children and will continue to do until they die.
Many have done well for themselves without a college diploma, and they're living a version of the American Dream that involves owning a boat and a truck to haul it.
Bickley has deep experience organizing large events on the water. For many summers, he hosted the Sandusky Bay Barge Party, which featured live music and bikini-clad women dancing around stripper poles. Bickley likes to circulate a video compilation of women's jiggling bodies from these parties, set to an off-color song.
He lost his enthusiasm for it in 2015 when his father — a Navy veteran, former police officer and Democrat — died. He started paying attention to the Republican presidential primary and gleefully watched as Trump trounced established politicians — especially former Florida governor Jeb Bush.
"So in typical Bickley fashion, I started liking Trump a lot," he said.
For much of his life, Bickley was an independent, although he mostly voted for Republicans, even during the decade that he worked at a quarry and was involved with a union. He's staunchly conservative on nearly all issues except for those related to the environment, on which he's aligned with liberals, worried about factory pollution and the health of the nation's waterways. This is one area where he says he hasn't studied Trump's record.
Bickley loves that Trump puts "America first," especially when that offends the educated elites. He supports building a wall along the southern border and forcing immigrants who arrive legally to learn English. And he agrees with Trump "constantly backing our men and women in blue," although he says he has had a few run-ins with law enforcement himself.
Someone on Facebook recently suggested that Trump hasn't accomplished much and Bickley responded, in part: "46 days away to your absolute pain. Perhaps you could stick a red hot fork in your eye. Or better yet, cut off your little buddy in despair."
Even as Bickley's businesses have prospered, he still considers himself blue-collar. He recently added an image of Trump's profile to the window of the back seat of his white SUV, so that it looks as if he is chauffeuring the president around town.
"Sometimes my wife will be like: 'More attention? You just need more attention, Shaun?' " he said of his wife of 31 years.
There was something about Trump that transcended both political parties — which is also a big reason Karr voted for him after voting for Barack Obama in 2008 and Ron Paul in 2012.
Karr retired from the Army a few years ago, disgusted with most politicians, military leaders, government contractors and federal workers, who he said put their pursuit of wealth and power above all else, including keeping their word. For years, he has struggled with serious digestive issues that he believes were caused by burn pits in the Middle East, and he was frustrated by Veterans Affairs doctors who seemed unable to accurately diagnose him or ease his pain.
Sometimes, he said, he feels as if the United States has become a nation of victims, even when they're not — a feeling that has become especially strong amid protests over racial inequality.
"These guys that say: 'We didn't get a chance,' " he said. "No, you didn't take a chance."
Karr says that racism should not be tolerated, but that he doesn't think the nation's problems are as bad as the media claims. Slavery was terrible, Karr said, "but that was then and this is now, and we can't go in a negative direction."
Trump and Biden have squabbled over who could best serve blue-collar workers, but Bickley and Karr rolled their eyes at the notion that Biden understands them.
As they see it, Biden has spent his entire career in elective office with a generous salary, posh benefits and opportunities to become wealthy. Trump is right to call him weak, they said. Although Trump was born into a wealthy family, they see him as someone who knows how to build a business and understands the pressure of trying to make payroll.
Bickley said he feels bad that Biden's son Beau died of cancer. As a father of three, he can't imagine the pain of losing a child. But he's taken aback that Biden has used that pain "as a political crutch." He assumes campaign staffers suggested doing so.
"He should have punched them in the mouth and said: 'No, we're not going there. That's painful,' " Bickley said.
Amy F. Grubbe, the chairwoman of the Democratic Party for Erie County, where Sandusky is located, says her volunteers don't even bother trying to win over the men who voted for Trump in 2016.
"People tend to go down with the ship. . . . That hardcore group, they're going to be flying Trump flags at their funerals 30 years from now," said Rep. Tim Ryan (D), whose eastern Ohio district is heavily blue-collar. While Ryan said he is confident Biden will win Ohio, he has little hope of converting Trump's strongest supporters. "They're all in with him, and there's no way to change their minds."
The issues Trump has chosen to highlight are, like his cultural positions, attractive to his White male supporters. His focus on law and order, seen by many as a way to scare some suburban women and seniors into voting for him, has also excited and rallied the men who already love him and are willing to follow him anywhere, including into an actual battle.
"We'll grab my AR and head for Washington and join the police force if they think they're going to riot and destroy Washington — not under my watch. I will die shoulder-to-shoulder with the cops," said Karr, the veteran who has three grown sons. "There ain't no way I am going to accept lawlessness in this country."
He and Bickley say Trump is right to refuse to accept any blame for the coronavirus pandemic and the nation's resulting economic problems. Yes, people are getting sick, they said, but they do not believe the death toll is really as high as some claim.
Bickley and Karr blame the pandemic on China and credit Trump for blocking many foreign travelers from China and other countries. Bickley says he spent thousands of dollars stocking up on food and protective gear. When Trump touted the lifesaving potential of hydroxychloroquine, Bickley ordered 90 pills online, along with a bunch of Z-Paks and some zinc pills, also touted by the president. Although federal health officials have strongly warned against using the medications to treat covid-19, especially without the oversight of doctors, Bickley is confident that they work.
"I'm not letting anybody on my team die," he said.
Karr nodded and added: "He's a friend who cares."
"I'm a friend who can get [stuff]," Bickley said with a laugh.
In July, Bickley's 32-year-old son-in-law became sick and tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Soon his 27-year-old daughter was also sick. Bickley offered them the medication, but they declined, suggesting that it was "quack science." The two quickly recovered, he said.
At the boat parade, those on the barge wore headphones or earplugs to protect their hearing against the cannon blasts, but they did not wear masks.
Two weeks after the parade, Bickley was invited by the Trump campaign to sit in the bleachers directly behind the president as he spoke at a rally in Swanton, Ohio, just outside of Toledo. He brought along Karr and some others and wore jeans with rhinestones on the pockets and ostrich skin boots. Because they would be in view of television cameras, the campaign asked the group to put on masks. Most of the thousands who gathered outside did not.
As Trump took the stage and marveled at the sprawling crowd before him, Bickley and Karr did the same. Trump assured the crowd that polls showing a tight race in Ohio were "fake," which is exactly what Bickley and Karr have been telling people. Trump debated aloud if he should nominate a woman to the Supreme Court or a man, as he did with his first two nominations — the sort of joke that Bickley and Karr say the media always takes too seriously.
"I don't want to make the men too angry," Trump said as the crowd laughed. "It will be a woman. Is that okay? I don't want to have a problem with men."
Trump gave himself credit for saving millions of lives and tens of millions of jobs amid the pandemic. He promised to continue to build up the military, the power of which he said he's not afraid to use on American soil. He told the crowd that he is "the only thing standing between you and chaos," and he warned "suburban men and husbands" that if Biden is elected, "you're not going to have your dream very much longer."
Trump left the stage to the recorded sounds of the Village People telling men everywhere that "there's no need to feel down . . . there's no need to be unhappy."
Bickley said afterward that the sound system near their group wasn't working properly, so they couldn't always understand what Trump was saying. But they applauded anyway.
"We could see what he saw. We could feel what he felt. We could see the laughter and the joy and the excitement," Bickley said of their front-row seats. "So the couple times I couldn't hear him, that was okay; I knew I was supposed to clap. I don't know what I was clapping about, but I clapped."
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They take great pride in having given their minds to Trump. They have willingly given Trump the right to decide what they must think about any topic.
They are TrumpZombiesTM.
they will ride the Trump Train to the inevitable end
And i'm feeling deja vu all over again .....
Some people will vote for Trump because they like him. Some people will vote for Trump because they like his Policies if not the man. Some people will vote for Trump because they don't like Biden. Some people vote for Trump because they're voting against the Democrat's Left Wing Policies. Some people will vote for Trump because they're sick of the Democrats and the Left Wing Media's four year long anti-Trump Propaganda Campaign. Most people vote based on Issues and policy, they're either voting for certain things or against certain things so while they may vote their favorite personality in the primaries they will always vote on Issues in the general election.
Spot on
He stands alone and doesn’t take crap from anybody.
FOUR MORE YEARS!
But he sure doesn't walk alone. Especially not down ramps.
At least he didn't crap his pants standing still like Nadler.
[jrEmbed module="jrYouTube" youtube_id="qpcinpFACV0"]
Then why does he have toilet paper coming out of his pant leg?
Pretty funny .... unlike a pants full of shit.
Difference is, I don't care about Nadler, but you are bending over backwards trying to justify Trump.
Lol .... no the real difference is i don't have a need to bag on someone who simply has TP stuck to their shoe because i'm not butt hurt that he beat my chosen one .... still ..... after almost four years. Which is just sad really.
Nadler shitting his pants and having to duck walk off the stage was just damn funny. Many degrees more funny than the old TP on the shoe routine but i understand that's probably all you got so go for it if that helps you in some positive kinda way.
What is sad is that I provided video evidence, you provided.......nothing except your own claim.
The most you have is your claim that Nadler walked funny. I have video after video of Trump looking like an imbecile.
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Here is a fuller video from start to finish. Congressman Nadler clearly has stablization issues and in many ways it is par for the course of his and other senior politicians (including Donald).
Note Nadler's gait on entry, on taking the podium, on leaving the podium, and on departure at the remaining seconds of the video . Fast forward accordingly .
House Democrats make URGENT PLEA against Trump filling Supreme Court seat
So "RedState" started the mean-spirited rumor? And now its traveled all the way to NT. Can't we all return to a sense of decency. The youth of this country are performing better than this. Conservatives remember: "Be Best!"
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Yeah, i'd blame stabilization issues as well if i crapped my pants ...... then i would move on with cleaning up my poopy pants toot sweet.
That said, maybe Bob Mueller is available so you can get a full investigation into poopy gate ...... when he's done with that he can investigate the great shoe TP crisis of 2018.
Yeah keep telling yourself that, as the youth is burning down our cities ...... such nice young men and women right? Give me a break. I can't find "youth" to fill jobs because they don't want to work, want to be hired at the top right out of the chute without being able to do the job and expect top pay without earning it.
The youth of this country isn't out performing jack-shit expect perhaps in chronic narcissism. And many of them do that very well from what i can see.
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Lol .... thanks for more empirical evidence to which i speak of ..... you have a nice day now ya hear!
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When are you going to make an argument ?
The mantra of the left:
That people on the political left have a certain set of opinions, just as people do in other parts of the ideological spectrum, is not surprising. What is surprising, however, is how often the opinions of those on the left are accompanied by hostility and even hatred.
- Thomas Sowell
Someone would give you the benefit of doubt. However, just laugh, I've heard it comes back at some point in the form of karma. As for what you wrote about the youth: That sounds bitter and old.
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As for your response about youth. That's just obtuse and uniformed.
Vic, people are suffering because of Donald Trump and his lies and selfishness. I know that doesn't mean anything to you, but it means something to me. There are Trump supporters that are suffering. I care more about them than Trump does, and I certainly care more about them than you do. I don't want to see anyone suffering, especially at the hands of a man who whose character and integrity have been missing since, well, birth.
And PS: He may not take crap from anybody, but he sure in the hell will take their money until they are homeless and living in the street.
"Air-brushed." Cost Estimate: $4,414.00
I can remark on this one rather tongue and cheek, because if memory serves I believe Donald actually retweeted it. Fair game.
I bet Mrs Trump wishes he looked like that. SHe might have been willing to take less on her pre-nup instead of wanting more.
"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done. Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that." - Rocky Balboa
"No I'm not...I got bone spurs...and the vapors..." - Donald J Trump
Did he write that cost off on his taxes too?
Jonestown on steroids
He and Bickley say Trump is right to refuse to accept any blame for the coronavirus pandemic and the nation's resulting economic problems. Yes, people are getting sick, they said, but they do not believe the death toll is really as high as some claim.
It was right at this point that they proved their lack of analytical/critical thinking skills. All the data and evidence is there to show that Covid has cost the lives of around 36,000 Americans, and that Trump's lack of response has caused the loss of 169,000 lives..... and counting.
These are strange times. As far as these 'white dudes', they're not going anywhere without the Trump because they have nowhere to go and all day to get there.
"I knew I was supposed to clap. I don't know what I was clapping about, but I clapped."
That pretty much tells us all we need to know about the Trump cult. I wonder how they are going to feel when they realize they were clapping for a LOSER.
They never will. They cannot... because that would mean admitting, at least to themselves, that they've been fools.
Think about our Usual Suspects, here on NT. It's unimaginable that any of them - not a single one - could ever recognize having been wrong... much less recognize having been foolishly wrong.
It isn't a matter of "what is true". These people believe that "being wrong" is a personal failure. So of course they can never accept it.
They are know as "Trump Chumps" for a reason G^2