The Myth of the Angry 74 Million Trump Voters
It’s Wednesday, which means you’ll get a column, a podcast, and a recipe. On the menu today: 75 million voters don’t want to burn Washington D.C. down; when life gets tough, you should be journaling; and Twitter convinced me to barbecue this weekend, so I’ll share a pork shoulder rub.
The Myth of the Angry 74 Million
I wasn’t intending to write about this today, but something has been bothering me for a bit. On Tuesday, Brian Kilmeade of Fox News said that what we saw last week was the anger and frustration of 75 million Americans who voted for Donald Trump.
"This country is ready to explode,” he said on Fox & Friends. “You saw what happened. You see the anger that the 74 million people feel."
This was his argument against impeachment, but more importantly, it was his attempt to reframe what happened last Wednesday. It’s not “unifying leadership” to gloss over what happened - a violent mob invading the Congress, threatening members and calling for the hanging of Vice President Mike Pence - and try to make everyone happy again. I have been and continue to be skeptical of the impeachment idea and the ability of Congress to do anything meaningful through the process, but I am certainly not in the camp that wants to downplay what happened for political points.
No, Mr. Kilmeade, we didn’t see the whims and wishes of 74 million Trump supporters last Wednesday. We saw a violent mob of a few hundred who have been fed lies about a stolen election and stirred into a raging hornet’s nest of unstable conspiracy theorists all because a President and his allies refused to admit he lost the November election. 74 million people who voted for Trump did not do so with the wish that should he lose all of Washington D.C. burn to the ground.
This is an outright dismissal of the danger that people who work in the Capitol building faced that day, and it is irresponsible to try and downplay it simply because it happened on your side of the aisle.
74 million people voted for Trump because they either genuinely supported him or because they are terrified of what the Left will do. Some are habitual center-right Republicans, some are converts, and some were looking for something new. More black voters and Hispanic voters voted for him than any other Republican President before him, and yet we know they aren’t seeking to burn down the country.
None of these groups as a whole seek to destroy our government in a rage for losing. Many accepted the results. A few, a very small percentage when you look at all the numbers, felt that Wednesday’s actions were necessary. The majority did not and do not see future chaotic events as necessary.
This wasn’t an act representative of all Trump voters. It was a riot encouraged (even if not directly ordered) by Trump and his loudest allies. You didn’t and won’t see major revolutionary demonstrations in the streets across the country, because Trump is not bigger than the history and success of our country. He is a product of it, not the cause of it, and it will survive without him.
The vast majority of his voters know this. The ones who don’t are lunatics who just want to watch things burn.
The Second Impeachment
A few brief thoughts on this.
Last time that the Democrats in the House impeached Trump, it was along party lines and without Republican support. This was despite there being a handful of anti-Trump Republicans who were on their way out the door anyway. The Democrats did not try to win them over.
This time, there are some reports of Democrats trying to win Republicans over, but it is almost overwhelmingly Trump’s own behavior that has pushed Republican members of the House and the Senate to the pro-impeachment side of the debate. Furthermore, it is the Republican leadership in the House and Senate that are making no moves to whip votes against impeachment or make any arguments against it whatsoever.
This is all Trump’s doing. His unwillingness to be civil and accept election results led to a violent mob attacking the Capitol building. His unwillingness to be a team player and help Republicans keep the Senate has eroded his support. Republicans who are voicing support are doing so to hold on to his base, not him. They are skirting around their own rhetoric in order to try and mitigate the damage they did by pushing his narratives.
A lot of people have recognized they screwed up, but he hasn’t. The Republicans in Congress see this and they are trying to salvage what they can. In the midst of the Democrats being ready to fracture over who is progressive enough, Trump led the Republican Party into its own identity crisis that has unified Democrats (at least for the moment) and prolonged their motivation.
The Republicans have done this to themselves, and I don’t feel much pity for them. I understand how difficult it was for some people to try and navigate this, but most people - including ones I like and respect very much - come out looking much worse because Trump was the leader of the party for four years.
I can’t really say I’m surprised that it went down this way. I and several others warned over the years that this was the only way it could end. I think the only surprise any of us feels right now is just at how few people out there supposedly on my side feel little to no remorse over how it’s ending.
Homestyle: Life in Journals
On this week’s episode of Homestyle, my co-host Leigh Guidry and I discuss one thing we both love to do: Write.
This week, it’s all about journaling. Not writing for the world to see, but writing meant for ourselves, to chronicle our lives and the world as we see it. This is about venting, discovering, and even progressing. All you need is a pen and paper to get started. Trust us, it’s very therapeutic.
If you want to hear more, you can always go back and listen to previous episodes, and we’d love to hear your feedback. Subscribe, rate, and review the podcast here, and if you have cooking, crafting, or family activity ideas, you can find us on Facebook and on Instagram (@Homestylepod).
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The Homestyle Podcast is a joint venture between myself and one of my best friends, education reporter Leigh Guidry. Throughout each episode, we discuss cooking, crafting, and other hobbies as well as how we make sure to spend time with our families despite how insanely busy life can be. The goal of the podcast has always been to take a moment to focus on what’s really important because, at the end of the day, family and life is more important than whatever distractions are going on in the world around us.
Recipe of the Week: Smoked Pork Shoulder
If you’re reading this, smoking a pork shoulder is probably not something you need a recipe for, but the rub you would use to form the crust might be something you’re interested in.
As far as smoking the pork, 7-8 hours at around 225-250 degrees is your best bet. Use a meat thermometer to monitor the temperature. It’ll be ready to pull apart at around 205 degrees internally.
As for the rub, there are a couple elements that make pork unique. Moreso than beef, pork responds very well to sweet flavors. It also takes on aromatics much more than other meats. Beef is a meat that does well on its own with a little salt and pepper, but pork transforms in new and exciting ways when you add different flavor profiles.
Red pepper flakes
Kosher salt
Paprika
Black pepper
Garlic
Cinnamon
Honey
Apple cider vinegar
Mix it all together and rub it all over the pork shoulder. Wrap it up tight and let it sit in the fridge overnight. This rub makes an amazing bark on the pork and the smoke adds a great flavor to it.
For the record, I use cherry wood for most of my smoking purposes, but I am interested in trying to find peach wood somewhere as I’ve heard it’s sweeter and more distinct.
Final Thoughts
I really don’t want to keep writing about the violent protests. I don’t really want to talk about impeachment again. But these things need to be addressed, and I can really only do so here. So, I guess you guys are stuck with this.