Since 2016, there has been a discussion as to what pushed people to vote for Donald Trump. The argument is between those who think economic and cultural concerns played a role while others think it was the changing demographics or a love of authoritarianism. I think the answer lies between these two choices, though I tend to believe that the struggles of the working class are a strong factor. That said, it seems like among many Never Trump Republicans and Democrats the belief is that Trump supporters are as David Brook describes them earlier, bad people who can’t handle all the social changes taking place in America.
My response to that is: okay, so what? Does that mean we ignore them? Do we continue to call them names or talk about how they’re stupid? Do we think if we do all this, Trump supporters will change their minds?
My point here is not to excuse Trump supporters. It’s hard to get past why people would support someone who behaves horribly and tried to steal an election. It’s about trying to understand them and that means seeing them as human beings and not as “the other.” It means learning to love our enemies.
Loving our enemies is hard these days.
Dispatches from Dennis 
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