To wonder why people think a vote for elite privileged billionaire businessman like Donald Trump is a strike for the little guy (or gal).

[Cailleach1]

www.vanityfair.com/magazine/2015/07/donald-ivana-trump-divorce-prenup-marie-brenner

I found the above article very interesting and am wondering how he was able to avoid being laughed at with his portrayal and focus on someone else's dealings while ignoring the beam in his own eye.

It is my 'suspicion' that no one is as successful or does the type of deals in his circles without greasing the correct 'city hall' or political fixers. The above article says 'markers' are used. An IOU for a return favour. Other people, never mind people from the 'rust' bowl, have never been his concern. He doesn't even seem to pay his fair share of taxes which fund basic state services, never mind being a community worker.

His talk of jobs for Americans is ironic seeing as how there was an issue with his hiring of illegal Polish workers who were receiving one sixth of the going rate for legit workers. He blamed everyone else.

"Yet one F.B.I. informant testified that he had warned Trump of the presence of the Polish brigade and had told him that if he didn’t get rid of them his casino license might not be granted."

He seems to have cheated on Ivana since 1984 and didn't divorce for quite a while after.

Yet he was throwing so much mud at Hillary Clinton. How come his glass house wasn't completely broken with the level of hypocrisy. I wonder if it is true that establishment sided with him insofar as the media moguls bought stories but didn't print them to save him.

I guess this was the same in Brexit referendum. The elite business chiefs and media moguls manipulated an unquestioning public susceptible to their influence. Murdoch, Dacre, Arron Banks. Big business owners like Wetherspoons etc. (who I presume don't go out of their way to pay higher wages to attract a local workforce and take from a cheaper foreign pool). I know people supporting Leave did so much research they were all questioning why the referendum was only advisory. It was interesting that Dyson is keen on May to make it easier for Indian workers to come to the UK. Considering Dyson moved manufacturing out of the UK to avail of cheaper wages abroad. It would be my suspicion he is hoping to bring in global workers as they may not be as expensive. It would be form considering the manufacturing move. It is not ordinary UK workers who are going to be reaping the benefits of brexit.

And considering Farage kept bringing his passport out as his life's concern, he is quick to voice his desire to adopt a foreign nationality and serve a foreign Government. He didn't seem to be arsed to do anything as a UK MEP. I'll wager he'll scrupulously pick up any payments and pensions the UK will have to cough up for their former EU personnel, though.

Wandering vent over.

Yes agree but all that was irrelevant to those who voted for him.

Thry constantly say it was a vote against the political elite and the increasing globalisation which is driving down wages and costing heavy industry jobs.

To be fair Hillary wasn't a great choice and should have been Bernie Sanders.

I think why people believe this has been covered frequently in the news for the past few months, but I haven't seen any particularly extensive article on it since the election.

A goat should have been able to win against Donald Trump. He was part and parcel with the political establishment with donations, schmoozing and such to further his own gain.

From speaking to relatives in the US who voted for him, they figure that a businessman rather than a politician, might make a better job of running the country in terms of finances and economics.

They live in a really impoverished area, jobs are scarce, etc. They gave Obama a chance for 8 years and their lives didn't improve or really change and they saw a vote for Hilary as a vote for more of the same, so they're willing to take a chance on Trump.

I know it's just desperate I feel so sorry for Americans who didn't vote for him. How fucking embarrassing.

Yes agree purple but I can't see him changing things.

Was he? I thought many in his own party would not endorse him, and many are still unprepared to work with him.

I thought one of the major concerns was where he was going to draw expertise from when he was so out in the cold.

Sorry, my post was to the OP.

Yet, there he is. And allegedly successfully feathered his own nest through using politicians as a cat's paw to make things easier. Maybe people are as cynical about the political system because of business people who use their wealth and contacts to corrupt the system.

Perhaps next time Britain should vote for Mike Ashley of Sports Direct. He's a billionaire who knows how to make money and isn't a politician. I'm sure he cares about the little guy.

thing is though the majority of Americans earning less that $50,000 a year voted for Hilary while the majority of those earning OVER that voted Trump - it's a myth that the 'little people' voted for him - since when did a multi business owning billionaire do anything for the workers!

And Media Moguls who use distorted spin to influence public opinion. They don't seem to be held to account for that. Can't vote them out either. I would be astounded if Arron Banks was giving wads of cash to the Conservative party and then to UKIP for selfless reasons. It buys ears and influence.

And I wonder how much greasing goes on under the radar?

After 8 years of Democrat government it was time for a change. So that should have come as no surprise.

Trump managed to harness anti establishment anger felt by disillusioned voters throughout the US. He won that disillusioned Republican vote at every stage in the primaries. So we should not have been surprised to see a repeat of that this week. What was interesting was that he also appealed to disillusioned Democrats who felt that Obama had not delivered for them and that a vote for Hilary represented more of the same.

The "liberal elites" including most Californians, East coasters and the media have live in their own mutually reinforcing bubbles and misread the mood of the nation as a whole. Shades of Brexit?

And Hilary was a bad candidate. No charisma, rumours of corruption and those emails.

Good suggestion limitedperiod. Or perhaps "sir" Philip green?

If we're talking working class, non college educated, then yes they did in fact vote for Trump - as long as they were white. 67% of white people without a degree voted Trump.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/09/donald-trump-exit-polls-data-us-election#img-2

Hillary may have had more of those earning under $50k voting for her, but they were largely BME.

The better off voted for Trump because of Obamacare. The increase in healthcare premiums came through in the last few months or weeks. Nothing was done to reduce the overinflated costs of American healthcare before it was introduced, and there was no incentive for Republican-governed states to get it to work, so people in some states were seeing premiums go up from mindbogglingly expensive to basically impossible to afford, like from $400 a month to $1000 a month with a new big excess to pay for most healthcare.

I think the Affordable Care Act will be the first thing that President Trump [still have to clear my throat after saying that] aims to destroy.

Trump went to factories and talked about jobs and talked to blue-collar workers relentlessly about jobs and how he'd make sure they kept them.

In a country without a real social security safety net, telling manual workers and low and unskilled workers that you'll help them keep their job is everything.

Hilary didn't do that. Bernie would have spoken to those people, and offered a different vision for them, but Hillary didn't really talk to them at all - I don't know whether it's because they just wouldn't' have listened anyway, she's been in Washington too long so is perceived as part of the problem not the solution.

OP, you seem to be addressing a point I didn't make.

They keep reporting on the news that many in the Republican Party will not work with him when he becomes president.

Are you saying that is not the case?

You seem to be talking about how he is corrupt and very wealthy. Well, yes. But that wasn't what you asked in the title of this post.

I mean Karl Marx beat his wife and treated his servants appallingly, but a variety of little guys and gals have felt he spoke for them.

Trump himself said many times at his rallies that the reason he knew the Washington political system was corrupt was because he himself had been inside that system and had made use of it in order to further his business interests.

Trump is at heart a patriot and a patriarch. Not everyone sees the world through the prism of wealth and class as you do. Others, more open minded, can see that a wealthy and/or upper class person may be equally capable of being a patriot and caring about their fellow countrymen as anyone else.

What his supporters see is a businessman, who will get things done, and whose patriotism has driven him into offering his talents in service of the American people.

I think a lot of people are over-thinking this.

It was simply a low-quality campaign with a low-quality result.

Op, because they want you to think that. They want you to believe that the liberal "elite" (you know all us LGBTQ, feminist, minoritie elite) were to blame for this. They want you to believe that the democrats have never had the best interests of the country and world at heart, despite obamacare and all the other social programs. When trump fucks up they want the liberal elite to blame themselves.

What they don't want is to focus on the fact that wealthy white men voted for him so they can get wealthier. They don't want to admit how ingrained racism and misogyny are in the US that almost half the voters agree with him. Because admitting it wasn't the liberals fault means admitting the us is a hot of ignorance and racism. And they just gave the nuclear codes to a narcissistic toddler.

thefitfatty

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/10/white-women-donald-trump-victory

A majority of white women's votes were cast for Trump.

I know. Fucking sad isn't it.

States like Pennsylvania that voted overwhelmingly for Trump also voted overwhelmingly for Obama in 2012, so it is simply false to claim it was a vote based on race. People voted against globalization and for protectionism and unless the left embrace the latter people will vote for right-wing candidates who expose protectionism. Stick to your laissez-faire globalist dogma if you wish, but it is a downright lie to blame votes for protectionism and national borders on racism.

It's fascinating that people have voted for a member of the establishment as an anti establishment vote.

Fwiw I don't think that Trump will do anything for the white workingold class, I don't think he'll have a protectionsist policies either. Blaming Obama for not helping people is a bit rich as the republicans spent the entire term blocking him.