My shoes were muddy to the lace. My brain, on the verge of aneurysm.
After flying in from New York to Columbus, Ohio, I drove lickety split to a little outside Cincinnati to get to a Sunday Donald Trump rally.
The actual rally was unremarkable—one protester kicked out, the remaining time the typical stream-of-consciousness, policy and specifics-less Trump speech, with some audience Q and A to appease the audience who had to sit around for an hour, waiting for the Donald to arrive.
What truly hurt my brain was after the rally. TYT Producer Eric Byler and I ventured outside to talk to Trump supporters—and one holding his campaign signs but vowing they are not supporting.
What followed was an Iraq War veteran who claimed there was no legal racism happening in America today; a boisterous fellow who wanted to jail Hillary Clinton for high crimes and email misdemeanors but had no problem at all with Trump’s dealings with the mafia; a younger individual who argued Trump is going to take the country back from “communists like Bernie Sanders.”
Between the 5:30am flight wake up call, lack of sleep the night before, and unedited misguidedness swirling around me, let’s just say 2 capsules of Aleve wasn’t enough—no, whiskey was in order.
When I read comments under the Trump videos we do at YouTube.com/TYTPolitics (spread the word!), many fans think we’re intentionally seeking the worst of the worst in the Trump swamp. The uninformed, the ignorant, the racists. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
Unfortunately, the pattern of people at his events have been similar to the aforementioned characters. Occasionally, we’ll find a very intelligent, reasonable Trump supporter to have a healthy back-and-forth with. I think that kind of content is as useful to our audience as it is to put a face to the folks who are supporting Trump off of pure passion and misguided notions of him taking the country back from the big, bad insiders.
But, it’s DAMN HARD these days to find those needle in a haystack, intelligent Trump supporters (if you’re one reading this, please tweet me).
Besides the racism, xenophobia, mysogony, and pro-wrestling theatrics on full display at Trump rallies we attend around the country, there’s one constant, flashing red light causing my eyes to squint while interviewing these Trump supporters.
People voting against their own interests, not realizing it’s the Donald Trump’s of the world who have kept their wages stuck for decades, while helping people like himself, or shall I say the “job creators,” buy another porsche.
Unfortunately, no journalist can completely unravel the cobweb of these folks’ mind.
But, I’ll sure keep trying to bring you as quality of content–the good, bad, stupid, poignant, and in the middle—as possible.
Stay tuned…
Follow Jordan on Twitter @JordanChariton
Comments
Keep up the good work man.
Stay strong Jordan! You cannot fight stupid, but you can sure spotlight it for exactly what it is. You’re doing awesome work, it must be exhausting… take good care of yourself!
Jordan I enjoy reading your tweets and articles. Thank You for joining TYT!!
Jordan, am greatly enjoying your dispatches and tweets. Thanks for sharing your talent.