As we get closer to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, the likely effects of his impending second term are coming into sharper focus. Accordingly, we’re seeing more stories about the ways that his policies will likely hurt many of the more vulnerable Americans who either cast their ballot for Trump or opted to stay home.
The Washington Post recently spoke with Pennsylvania Trump voters who depend on the government benefits Trump has promised to slash. A deeply emotional feature in The New York Times zoomed in on one undocumented man in Georgia whose family members voted for Trump because they support his plan to carry out mass deportations — but insist that their relative will be fine. Trump-supporting farmers whose business depend on migrant labor are getting nervous about how their workers will fare under the planned immigration crackdown.
The common denominator is an ongoing refusal to take Trump’s own words at face value.
The common denominator is an ongoing refusal to take Trump’s own words at face value. Throughout the 2024 presidential campaign, it became clear that many of his supporters only believed what they wanted to believe and with a wave of their hand dismissed the most brutal or authoritarian of his promises. In a post-election New York Times focus group, many of the 14 participants who voted for him were still praising Trump for policies he doesn’t support or beliefs he doesn’t hold. There likewise appears to be a broad assumption among many of his voters that if Trump’s policies produce negative results, then they, their businesses and their loved ones will somehow be part of the exception, not the rule.
Their suspension of belief didn’t come from nowhere, though. Trump is a master of telling an audience exactly what it wants to hear. When talking about abortion, he has sought to dodge and weave. In an interview with NBC News’ Kristen Welker, he denied wanting his Justice Department to persecute his political enemies even when his own speeches and supporters have made clear his intention to do so. His proposed solutions to specific problems like inflation are vague enough to become a blank vessel for people to fill with their own hopes and desires. It doesn’t help that some of his supporters’ media diet means that they’re not getting the clearest view of his plans.
This isn’t meant to be a backhanded defense of Trump voters. The bright, flashing warning signs were there throughout the campaign for anyone who wanted to see them. It seems impossible that anyone could be unaware of what a vote for him could mean, not after almost a decade of him dominating the country’s political attention. Agency rests squarely on the shoulders of Trump voters, who chose him despite the overwhelming evidence that his plans would be harmful.
The problem with taking solace in the suffering of others in this case is that it still requires the suffering of others.
The recent tales of early-stage regret and fear are prompting a sense of grim satisfaction from some on the left. A classic meme — “‘I never thought leopards would eat MY face,’ sobs woman who voted for the Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party” — has gone around enough among the rump of the #Resistance to become cliché. The sentiment, though, is clear: Whatever happens, these Trump supporters will be getting what they deserve.
It’s hard for me to reach that conclusion, though. The schadenfreude that others are feeling or anticipating seems as hollow as the beliefs that Trump supporters projected onto him. As I see it, the problem with taking solace in the suffering of others in this case is that it still requires the suffering of others.
I understand the desire to see people endure consequences for their own actions. But it simply ignores the very selfish reality that in this scenario, we’re all suffering too. The hardships that Americans will face should Republicans succeed in decimating the social safety net will be immense. There’ll be no comfort that some of the people crashing to the ground thought they were only voting to have that net taken from others. After all, they were told that they’d be able to fly just fine without it.
