Opinion: Trump supporters say they’re not racist. So why did they vote for a someone who spouted racism?

To the editor: According to this article, I should have been a Donald Trump supporter. (“‘We’re called redneck, ignorant, racist. That’s not true’: Trump supporters explain why they voted for him,” Nov. 13)

I am a non-racist, non-redneck, non-ignorant, middle-aged writer in a field that no longer values my experience or validates my relevance. I am anxious about my future and retirement, and I am angry as hell about the corporate greed that is destroying our air, food, water, health and societal values.

I live in a state with many immigrants. Yet I do not view farmworkers who toil 12 hours a day in 100-degree heat and long-term care workers who change our loved ones’ bedpans as a threat. They are my heroes.

Did these non-ignorant Trump voters really believe that a con man and his close associates are going to make America great again? Do they actually believe in these “change makers”?

So all you non-racist, non-redneck, non-ignorant Trump supporters: Please don’t tell me you’re not ignorant. I’d have to be just as ignorant to believe you.

Adair Seldon, Mar Vista

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To the editor: I want to thank you for shedding some light on the electorate that just gave Donald Trump the White House. I can appreciate the themes that drove these Trump voters during the campaign: Washington dysfunction, loss of jobs and feeling forgotten.

But what I cannot fathom is how these voters could overlook President-elect Trump’s complete lack of honesty. I believe it is well accepted and documented that he outright lies and fabricates. For example, he perpetuated the birther issue to undermine a sitting president.

On what basis can Trump’s supporters believe anything he puts forward? On what basis can they trust him to lead our country? Granted, all of us have blind spots, but when we reach a point where truth no longer has meaning, then we have lost all ability to think critically, make intelligent decisions and govern ourselves.

Mark Warmbrand, San Diego

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To the editor: I appreciate your article offering the different reasons Trump voters gave for supporting him. I am very disappointed that he was elected president, but I know a lot of voters felt that their problems were being ignored, as this article points out.

The Democratic Party did not do a good job reaching out to the economically challenged. However, I think Trump voters are fooling themselves if they think the president-elect will help them.

Trump is a billionaire businessman who enriches only himself and his family. He hasn’t outlined what his economic plan is, and building a border wall and lowering taxes on the rich will not help the average person.

Just being a Washington outsider does not qualify someone to hold the most powerful office in America.

Betsy Estrada, Mission Viejo

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To the editor: Apparently, Trump voters resent being called racist, which they assert “isn’t fair or true.” At the same time they assert fears that Mexicans in the U.S. illegally are a drain on public assistance.

What is true is that many noncitizens cannot receive welfare, white people make up the largest group on welfare, and to say otherwise is certainly not “fair or true.” Am I really supposed to believe that a Trump voter’s quick willingness to accept such falsehoods (and others too numerous to name) without question is not motivated by racist scapegoating?

If you believe that, there’s a casino in Atlantic City I’d like to sell you.

Rodney Rincon, Rancho Palos Verdes

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