Trump Rally; two views, take your pick
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Back in summer of 2016 I attended a Trump rally in Portland, Maine, just to see what all the fuss was about. I’d been led to believe by media reports that his supporters were pretty much drooling, racist morons — “a basket of deplorables”, as one of our most deplorable politicians had put it. I waited in line for 90 minutes to get into the auditorium where he was to speak, and spent that time chatting with those next to me: a soldier on leave, a retired principal from northern Maine and her husband, and the chairman of the philosophy department at a major southern university, in Maine on his summer vacation. None of them were idiots.
When we did get in, Trump delivered an hour-and-a-half speech that was funny, biting, and right on target. I left thinking that the media were seriously underestimating the man and his supporters. So it didn’t surprise me that, on the morning after his election, I met with several acquaintances, liberals all, who were in a state of shock (two of the women were actually weeping) that he’d won, and had idea how he did it. The explanation for why they were so surprised was, I think, that their prefered media fed them stories they wanted to hear, not what was actually happening. Judging from the media’s coverage of Thursday’s Trump rally in the South Bronx, that underestimation is happening again.
Some examples:
Liberal journalists, Democrats bitterly seek to discredit Trump Bronx rally: 'Fake, made-up'
Liberal media commentators, journalists and New York Democrats complained about the massive crowd that showed up for former President Trump's campaign rally in deep-blue New York City, calling the showing "fake" and full of out-of-towners.
Trump rallied a crowd of what his campaign estimated to be 25,000 supporters at Crotona Park in the Bronx on Thursday, far more than the initial 3,500 it said were expected to attend. The crowd size even surprised a CNN reporter on site at the event.
"Certainly a bigger crowd than I think Democrats would like to see, particularly given this is one of the bluest counties in the entire country," CNN correspondent Kristen Holmes said, noting that many attendees were from the Bronx.
Progressive Democrats and liberal commentators on MSNBC tried to discredit the rally before and after it occurred as a contrived stunt to win minority voters in the area.
"Well, I’ll tell you what won’t make a difference at all, Jake, and that’s for Donald Trump to be a ringleader and invite all his clowns to a place like the Bronx," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul told CNN's Jake Tapper as the former president's supporters were gathering. "New York will never, ever support Donald Trump for president."
"So if he wants to spend his time doing these made-up, fake rallies and pretending there’s support here, be my guest, because while you’re doing that, Donald Trump, Joe Biden’s out there on the other side making sure he’s delivering for all Americans," Hochul continued.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a fellow New York Democrat, dismissed the Trump rally as a stunt to pay his legal fees.
…. Ocasio-Cortez doubled down on Thursday, accusing Trump of sending in supporters from outside states to "trick" her constituents.
And from Salon’s summary of a report aired on ABC News:
Trump’s Bronx rally wasn’t very big, or very Bronx
“A local New York evening news report by Jim Dolan on ABC7 revealed just how many, or how few, were there. Not to mention the fact that there were plenty of protesters mixed in.”
According to Dolan's reporting, those who were in attendance didn’t amount to a lot, judging by the b-roll aired later that evening. What's more, most individuals in the crowd were not even from the Bronx.
“Donald Trump can now say he held a rally in the South Bronx, home to immigrants and minority communities, and that it was well attended,” Dolan said. “It’s just not clear that the people who attended were from the Bronx. The campaign controlled who got in, and the campaign, of course, picked only supporters.”
“Plenty of protestors” and “the campaign controlled who got in … and picked only supporters” would seem mutually contradictory to anyone who isn’t one of the flying monkeys of the press, but it’s an easy hurdle for those who are.
But amazingly, there was one legitimate report from the mainstreet press and it was actually aired on MSNBC — it will be ignored, I predict, by that channel’s viewers:
Black, Latino Trump supporters at Bronx rally shut down reporter asking about his 'racist' rhetoric (video at the link)
NBC reporter says minority Trump voters are 'sick of how much they’re paying for gas and groceries, frustrated with the situation at the border'
NBC News reporter Dasha Burns said that several Black and Latino Trump supporters shut her down when she attempted to confront them on the former president’s "racist" rhetoric on Thursday.
Burns appeared on MSNBC on Friday to talk about her coverage of Trump’s massive rally the previous day in deep-blue Bronx, New York. The reporter recalled that the Black and Latino Trump supporters she spoke to on the scene had completely bought into Trump’s anti-illegal immigration and economic policies, even if he had said "racist" and "bigoted" things in the past.
"They are just so focused on what their lives are like right now, what they can feel tangibly, that when I push back with those comments, they shut that down," Burns told MSNBC host Ana Cabrera, commenting that these voters don’t care about Trump’s rhetoric compared to his policies.
NBC News reporter Dasha Burns said that several Black and Latino Trump supporters shut her down when she attempted to confront them on the former president’s "racist" rhetoric on Thursday.
Burns appeared on MSNBC on Friday to talk about her coverage of Trump’s massive rally the previous day in deep-blue Bronx, New York. The reporter recalled that the Black and Latino Trump supporters she spoke to on the scene had completely bought into Trump’s anti-illegal immigration and economic policies, even if he had said "racist" and "bigoted" things in the past.
"They are just so focused on what their lives are like right now, what they can feel tangibly, that when I push back with those comments, they shut that down," Burns told MSNBC host Ana Cabrera, commenting that these voters don’t care about Trump’s rhetoric compared to his policies.
During the segment, Burns seemed surprised by the fact that many of the people she spoke to were immigrants who supported Trump's points on heavily restricting immigration and potentially calling for mass deportations.
"Well, this might sound a little counterintuitive, but I did talk to folks in that crowd who themselves were immigrants," she said. "A lot of people that I talked to were born and raised in the Bronx. For some of them, this was their first ever Trump event. And when you talk to immigrants that are going to these Trump rallies, they agree with his message on immigration."
She continued, "Their point is, ‘Look, I did it the right way. I came here legally.’ And especially those living in New York right now, the sentiment I heard from a lot of voters was, ‘We have these immigrants right now that the city is taking care in a way that I’ve never felt taken care of by this city.'"
Another indicated to the reporter he hadn’t forgotten Biden’s comments to podcast host Charlamagne Tha God in 2020 that anyone who votes for Trump instead of him “ain’t Black”.
Burns said that she tried to push back, to no avail.
"Multiple people actually mentioned that Charlamagne tha God interview. I did press back with some of those folks, mentioning some of Trump’s rhetoric that’s been seen as racist and bigoted," she added. "They said they don’t have a problem with that. They view his actions over his words in terms of what they feel he can do for their community."
Burns added that among the attendees were "Black and Latino voters that are sick of how much they’re paying for gas and groceries, that are frustrated with the situation at the border."
In footage of Burns speaking to various minority Trump supporters at the rally, one praised Trump and slammed Biden for having "disrespected the people of the city of New York."
