Robert Reich Lets Trump Supporters Off Too Easy

In his NYT interview and new book, Robert Reich calls the vast majority of Trump supporters victims. I’m not so sure, many know exactly what they’re doing.

He reflects on how America ends up with Donald Trump. He blames rising inequality, political failure, and decades of neglect. He says many Trump supporters are “lovely people” who get conned by a narcissist at a dangerous point in history.

That gives them a pass.

Some are not conned at all. They know what Trump is and they want it. They want the bullying. They want the cruelty. They see him mock the weak, break rules, and punch down, and they cheer. They just want to stay clean while someone else does the dirty work.

They want both. To act moral and feel righteous, while Trump punishes the people they already resent. To wave the Bible while someone else breaks every rule it teaches. They use Trump as their scapegoat because it suits them for now. When they stop depends on how much their conscience can handle.

Reich has spent his life fighting bullies, and maybe that makes it hard to accept how many people actually root for one.

But adults make choices. Some look at Trump and say yes. Not because they are fooled, but because he gives them what they want. He is the bully they wish they could be.