To ask Trump supporters how they defend this?

[snugsnug1]

To be blunt, I don't understand how anyone can stand this guy. Nothing on earth would convince me to vote for him (I'm American), but he seems to have a surprising level of support on here. Over 60 people died, including a sickening number of children.

How is this ok?

“I have a plan to visit, not the site. Because you tell me, what’s the site? The water? You want me to go swimming?” Donald Trump responded during a White House press briefing on Thursday. The latest tragic mishap marks the deadliest US air disaster in two decades.

https://www.wtae.com/article/corey-comperatore-trump-inauguration-parade/63486809

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4776605-helen-comperatore-donald-trump-call-rally-shooting/

It was a horrible crass thing to say. Only someone who doesn't care what others think would say something like that.

To be fair I would REALLY REALLY like him to visit the site and go swimming…

My husband and I watched Trump live on TV. We sat open mouthed at the idiotic words tumbling out of that awful hole in his face.
I had to turn the Tv off. He’s started off quite well, rather respectfully, then he blamed diversity, disability, the previous administration.
It has upset me over the past 24 hours. Sheer lunacy.

I have mixed opinions of Trump. On this occasion, his response was insensitive and crass. But on other occasions I appreciate his direct approach - whether I agree with his opinion or not - because British politicians are so full of bs.

I guess I’m struggling to understand why you’re reacting so strongly to him saying insensitive things after so many years.

He announced he was running for President in 2015. He kicked off that campaign by calling Mexicans rapists and claiming that John McCain was weak for having been captured and tortured during the Vietnam War. That was a decade ago. The shock value is gone.

Most of what he says makes no sense - his speeches are rambling streams of consciousness that are absolutely impossible to follow. He’s clearly cognitively impaired and very possibly in the early stages of dementia.

Most regular people - especially in this country - stopped paying close attention to the things he says years ago.

You’re clearly struggling with the direction that a country you are a citizen of, and where you presumably have family, is taking. But I don’t think hanging on to his every word and starting these threads looking for Trump supporters to fight with is helping you. You need better (and less online) coping strategies, or the next four years are going to be torture for you.

there is no defense for trump. I'm american (old timer union democrat, bleed blue) and when he ran the 1st time I was horrified viewing the presidential debates and my H laughed and said oh it won't go anywhere.

Then he won. All the ugliness normal people usually hid was on full display, hate and racism was trendy. Very early on I felt like we were watching the emperors new clothes, the broad acceptance NO-JOY when he said/did evil things was frankly terrifying. (This is completely ignoring the deep stupidity.)

The worst part isn't him. Its the people I know, work with, am friends with, the ones I love who adore him. They're gleeful at the suffering their hateful policies create. But when it affects them look out-they scream bloody murder. The hypocrisy is incredible.

I shut my fb account about halfway thru his 1st term, I was getting attacked by my own siblings. Easier to walk away from the hate. I curate my online life carefully now to avoid hate and propaganda.

I'm old enough to remember being taught in school 'consider the source' when reading anything. Who wrote this, why, is there a purpose to it etc. Now if its in a meme or on twitter it must be true, esp if it reinforces what I already think about a subject.

There is no defense for him. He represents hate. I shudder to think what will happen here in the next 4 years and further, the long term consequences. We actively hate schools, teachers are evil now, librarians are routinely attacked. We worship ultra wealthy who laugh and laugh at how stupid we all are. (well I don't but it seems most do)

Sorry to write a novel but I'd like to say a sizable number of americans despise him. I'd pray for him to die but his next in command is so much worse. I think I'll go have a cry now.

There is NO DEFENSE FOR TRUMP

Yes, I understand what you're saying. And generally I'm over being shocked by anything he says or does, or paying much attention to the stream of garbage, but I'm stuck at home today with a dog that's just had surgery, so am spending an unusual amount of time messing around on social media.

But even now, after all these years and the millions of utterings, I was shocked by the callousness of him making a joke(?) about a situation in which people's children are still being pulled dead out of a river. I was curious as to how people who support him, but weren't necessarily in a position to vote for him (so taking the 'what he can do for me' piece out of the equation) would feel about that.

Adding: I'm not looking to fight. As I said earlier, I'm trying to really think about whether I could find a way to justify something similar coming out of the mouth of a politician that I strongly supported.

I don’t really understand the outrage to be honest. I’m a trump supporter but I wouldn’t have got upset if Kamala had said this, or even brought it up in conversation with anyone.

This conversation also feels very 2016.

It reminds me of when the Access Hollywood tape came out and the anti-Trumpers were jubilant because they thought they’d won the election! How could anyone possibly vote for him after hearing him say such horrible, crass things? I believed it too - I thought Hillary’s victory was assured.

But we were all, evidently, proved wrong. His supporters just didn’t care and voted for him anyway. Plenty of people didn’t like the things he said, and certainly wouldn’t defend his words, but that didn’t stop them voting for him.

You seem to be assuming that just because someone is pro-Trump, they support every single thing he says and will be willing to defend it. That’s just not true. They don’t care about what he says, but about what he represents - a total repudiation of, as they see it, the biased liberal elite status quo.

I think the answer to your question is that any people who broadly support him in this country do so because they would like to see the actions he is taking, with regards to immigration, size of government, foreign aid etc replicated here.

Just because someone’s policy priorities are broadly aligned with him doesn’t mean that they’ll feel the need to defend his socially inappropriate, cognitively impaired ramblings.

I’m surprised there hasn’t been mor3 of a fuss about this - Trump’s suggestion that Palestine should be cleared.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c07kpjyzgllo

Oh, he's vile, but you'd expect nothing better. Air Traffic Control recruiting the 'mentally impaired'? Pots and kettles spring to mind. And sadly, you're stuck with him for the next 4 years. And beyond if he can swing it.

I’m struggling to find the right words for this but I think your mistake is superimposing your own way of thinking onto people who are very different from you.

You’re assuming that his strong supporters feel the need to justify the things that he says, because, that’s what you would do in the same situation - and if you couldn’t find a way to justify it, you’d drop your support of that person.

But these people don’t believe they need to be able to justify everything he says to be able to continue supporting him.

There’s no silver bullet here - you seem to be stuck in the 2016 way of thinking that eventually he’ll say something so vile that nobody will be able to support him anymore. But that’s unfortunately not the world we live in.

His supporters like the fact that he pisses off the politically correct liberal elites that they hate - even if they would never actually be so crass themselves. They believe (rightly or wrongly, probably the latter) that his policy programme will benefit them and they’re not going to give that up over a few insults.

He is a caricature of himself. Barely one week in and he's raising hell.

If this pace keeps up the eye rolling of many will end up in the top of their skulls. He will overdo it so often that it will appear normal, and thus dismissed as either the talk of a messiah, or the ramblings of a nutcase.

It certainly reminds me of the fat boy in N K. Stuffing his face while the population kneels in adoration and starves. The Emperor's clothes will fall off soon enough in Trump's case though, but as to who will care? That is the question.

I don't think many care really. The big test is money in people's pockets. If that happens Trump can do the splits naked and insult everyone on the planet and will still be praised or at best ignored.

People said that about other tyrants

How embarrassing for your children.

Yes, I don't disagree, which is why I was asking how someone could justify it, but definitely not stuck in the 2016 way of thinking. I, frankly, doubt even Supreme Court rulings will stop him or diminish his support at this point. I

It's genuinely that thinking about how it would feel to have your loved one in that river and have him make a joke about it brought a level of revulsion I thought I was past when it comes to him, as it seems a step beyond.

Ok, we're having people over for dinner tonight, so off to walk the hobbling dog and get things ready.

Thanks all for the responses on here (other than the ones who bothered to stop by and scold me for asking the question!)

Thank you for answering.

It's about the literal words that came out of his mouth. Do you think they're appropriate for the situation?
No, they’re not. He doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘statesmanlike’ and comports himself with all the dignity, tact and sensitivity of the crass specimen he is. I have a (probably vain) hope that one day he will go too far and the scales will finally fall from the eyes of his supporters and apologists.

See, in my opinion, that was absolutely disgusting, but completely what I'd expect from him, so it was foul but completely unsurprising.

This one actually managed to take me by surprise.

I think it's very similar to a cult - so no, unfortunately, I don't think anything he says or does will change his fans' perception.

The problem is it's pretty obvious when visiting the "site" he didn't mean deep sea diving in an icy lake.

He needs to learn that sometimes silence is golden.

But it isn’t their loved one in that river, and until it is, they won’t care.

This about sums it up for me. Although I feel you're being too generous