Perhaps the only thing liberal Facebook pages poke fun at more than President Donald Trump are the people who put him in office. There’s just one problem: many of those people they’re attacking also put Barack Obama in office.
Here, we see a meme which attempts to draw a distinction between the vocal opposition against Barack Obama over the past decade, and the militant opposition against Donald Trump today.
“We hate Donald Trump like you hated President Obama,” the meme’s caption reads. “However, we hate Trump because he is racist. You hated Obama because you are racist.”
There it is: everyone who opposed President Obama is a racist. Glad that’s settled.
It’s amazing how quickly low-information memers forget history — namely recent history.
Ahead of the 2016 presidential election, even the most optimistic Republicans understood that they were fighting an uphill battle against Hillary Clinton. The Clinton political machine was well-connected, adored by the media, and endorsed by a fairly popular sitting president. How did Trump overcome this? Simple: by stealing Democratic voters.
Analysts at major polling firms like Gallup and Rasmussen have noted many of Trump’s votes came from deeply blue states, particularly in the so-called “Rust Belt.” Many of these people voted for Obama twice.
By campaigning hard against unchecked immigration (which undercuts the value of low-skilled labor), and unpopular free trade agreements (like NAFTA), the Republican Party saw a surge of blue-collar support not seen since the days of President Reagan.
It was this strategy, not racism, that ensured a Trump victory. Maybe liberals should think twice before demonizing people who used to support them.
~ Facts Not Memes
