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How Long Will Trump Voters Stand By Their Man?

Donald Trump is a liar, a criminal, and a danger to all of us. Everyone who is sane knows that. He attacks press freedom. He has used the undocumented workers he maligns. He lies about his wealth, which is why he doesn't release his tax returns. He hires anti-Semites. He steals. He discriminates against blacks in housing.
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San Diego, California, USA - May 27, 2016: Tensions rise as anti-Trump protesters meet Trump supporters and American and Mexican flags are held up representing each group at a Donald Trump rally at the San Diego Convention Center.
shakzu via Getty Images
San Diego, California, USA - May 27, 2016: Tensions rise as anti-Trump protesters meet Trump supporters and American and Mexican flags are held up representing each group at a Donald Trump rally at the San Diego Convention Center.

Donald Trump is a liar, a criminal, and a danger to all of us. Everyone who is sane knows that.

He is a draft dodger. He is a racist. He sexually assaults women and brags about it. He violated the Cuba embargo. He has long been linked to organized crime. He condones violence against those who disagree with him. He's had multiple bankruptcies. His ex-wife says he raped her, and treats his current one like dirt.

He attacks press freedom. He has used the undocumented workers he maligns. He lies about his wealth, which is why he doesn't release his tax returns. He hires anti-Semites. He steals. He discriminates against blacks in housing.

Most of all, he is a liar who was helped by Russia to cheat his way into power. He's a traitor to the United States and its allies.

So why -- why, why, why -- does his vote stay with him? That's the question everyone is asking: His core voters can't be that clueless, can they?

Earlier this week, we attended a talk by American Professor Justin Gest, an expert on immigration -- and, lately, the white working-class folks who were victorious with both Brexit and Donald Trump. Gest is a smart guy. My take on his talk generated a lot of responses. Gest was asked the same question a couple times by bewildered Canadians.

In answering, Gest distinguished between two kinds of Trump voters: The Nationalists, who are white supremacists, more or less, and who will never abandon Trump because they subscribe to his racist conspiracy theories. Then, there's what he calls the Exasperated, who aren't lifelong Republicans, aren't necessarily racist, and who are just simply weary of politicians lying -- and won't stay with Trump if he continues to lie.

Here's a synopsis of Gest's response, taken from the huge thing he did in Politico:

"Put simply, a significant portion of the white working-class vote is up in the air. Yes, Nationalists will stay loyal to Trump and his party. But the support of the Exasperated depends on the complete reorientation of the Republican Party and the extent to which Democrats can develop an authentic, persuasive platform to make wary, white working-class people feel that they have a future. And that's going to require a reorientation of their own."

See? There's opportunity, however slim. Not with Trump's bigots: they're always going to stick with him, and who wants to coddle them, anyway? But the so-called Exasperated? They want to feel they are being listened to, and that change is possible. They're gettable vote.

My personal advice? Shut down Washington until you get an independent prosecutor, properly funded. Fill the the streets. Take the momentum of the Women's March and the science demos, and demand an independent prosector, now.

The best way to show Trump is a liar, with evidence, is to empower someone to find the evidence.

So do it, America.

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