Racial anxiety drives support for Trump

This isn’t news. It’s been studied since the election.

Every Trump supporter is either a racist or is willing to tolerate racism.

What happened to “economic anxiety”? 🤔https://t.co/M3fSGabRi4
— Midwin Charles (@MidwinCharles) June 25, 2020

Here are some old articles

Economic Anxiety Didn’t Make People Vote Trump, Racism Did

Donald Trump’s support in the 2016 campaign was clearly driven by racism, sexism, and xenophobia

Two studies suggest Trump broadened the Republican Party’s appeal by tapping into deep-seated anxieties and prejudices

Racism motivated Trump voters more than authoritarianism

TV’s influence on elections

Television has had a huge influence on elections starting with the Kennedy-Nixon debates. Kennedy obviously came across better on TV. Charisma and excellent public speaking helped Clinton and Obama win. We have elected a movie star (Reagan) and reality TV star (Trump).

This applies to music too. Most successful musicians are attractive. The exceptions are those who are obviously or deliberately unattractive like Meat Loaf or Alice Cooper. Because of video, you don’t see average looking folks become successful musicians.

I am discussing this because of Tom Nichols’s tweets.

Not only do I hope Biden wins in 2020, I hope it starts us on a path away from thinking that every presidential candidate has to be some kind of celebrity or a rock star. Politics is hard work and it's mostly boring. I blame JFK, Reagan – yep – and Bill Clinton for a lot of this. https://t.co/fl8yUKBxaO
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) June 22, 2020

If you don’t think that television and our stupid celebrity culture is part of our political problem, then you’re going to be shocked when another Trump shows up down the line.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) June 22, 2020

I am not comparing these presidents on substance. I am talking about how they were marketed, and how years of making presidents into glamorous celebrities has led us to a very bad place. The presidency is now part of a celebrity culture, and I hope that ends. https://t.co/7woGyTyTXZ
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) June 22, 2020

Trump campaign’s unpaid bills

They have stiffed cities over and over.

Perhaps the most ironic of Trump's super-cheesy moves is the failure of his campaign to pay police departments all over America for security during his MAGA rallies. He's a fraud who constantly sings the praises of cops, then screws 'em. Nice. https://t.co/qp9D0RXU2h
— Maggie Harper (@painterly111) August 4, 2020

Pence will hold a "Cops for Trump" event in Tucson after city officials say the Trump Campaign still refuses to pay a 4 year-old bill. The campaign has racked $2 million total in unpaid bills total. https://t.co/6eWg5nxrxl

I wrote about this a year ago: https://t.co/K2Ck5V5h7U
— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) August 7, 2020

NEW: @VP Mike Pence scheduled to conduct "Cops for Trump" rally in @cityoftucson on Tuesday.

BUT: Trump campaign still won't pay a $81,000 police bill Tucson officials sent in 2016 stemming from a MAGA rally that year. https://t.co/nQafAXtU8T
— Dave Levinthal (@davelevinthal) August 6, 2020

Trump’s campaign will leave Tulsa tonight owing — in the opinions of 14 municipal government — more than $1.8 million in unpaid police and public safety costs stemming from MAGA rallies. https://t.co/nAOOSflyno
— Dave Levinthal (@davelevinthal) June 21, 2020

Trump has racked up unpaid bills for his political rallies all around the country, more than any other candidate.

Oh and he still owes DC for the Fourth of July and for his inauguration. https://t.co/2sOnhB8tfi
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) February 22, 2020

Cities across the U.S. say Trump has failed to reimburse local officials for security assistance to the president’s campaign during his MAGA rallieshttps://t.co/AR41ztIulg
— POLITICO (@politico) October 8, 2019

What is the possible justification for the Trump campaign, flush with cash, to not pay strapped localities the police and public safety bills? https://t.co/rTLQGXAWvt
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 15, 2020

Here are some checks that @realDonaldTrump is more than welcome to put his name on. https://t.co/pZSkgsf6Jh
— Andrew Weinstein (@Weinsteinlaw) April 16, 2020

More police racism

Some news via @rorylaverty in NC: After Wilmington police officers were recorded using racist, violent language, the DA says his office will dismiss 89 pending cases involving them + asked people from other cases linked to them to contact him with concerns about racial bias https://t.co/t2xcKxZP56
— Mark Berman (@markberman) June 25, 2020

My God.

Fired NC police officer on tape:

"We are just going to go out and start slaughtering them (expletive)”…“I can’t wait. God, I can’t wait.”

Civil war to “wipe them off the (expletive) map. That’ll put them back about four or five generations.” https://t.co/BAuWQe5xI2
— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) June 25, 2020

New: NY police officer seen putting man in chokehold over the weekend has been arrested and charged with “attempted strangulation” and “strangulation,” says NYPD.
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) June 25, 2020

The “just a few bad apples” argument weakens with each passing day. https://t.co/rN7iafKkLl
— Midwin Charles (@MidwinCharles) June 25, 2020

His name is Carlos Adrian Ingram Lopez.

He cried out for his grandmother as police handcuffed him face-down for 12 mins. He couldn’t breathe.

He was killed by police two months ago, but body cam video was just released—officers must be held accountable. https://t.co/l6NnwdwkiH
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) June 25, 2020

Three police officers stopped this man on the side of the road, accused him of suspicious activity, picked him up, slammed him down, broke his wrist, handcuffed him while he was screaming — then realized they had the wrong man.

Because – skin color…
pic.twitter.com/awfLk2DNRP
— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) June 24, 2020

One of the most painful things about the #ElijahMcClain story is it happened nearly a year ago & many of us are just finding out about it. Literally can’t even imagine the number of unarmed black lives that have ended that went unnoticed. https://t.co/lEO3h99gCy
— Eugene Scott (@Eugene_Scott) June 24, 2020

The same officer was caught on video in 2014 pistol whipping a teenager and knocking the child’s teeth out. Now he chokes out a man and is suspended w/o pay. They know who the “bad apples” are. That’s why the problem is systemic. https://t.co/fkfeZJhUH5
— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) June 21, 2020

More coronavirus outbreaks

How a spring break trip to Mexico triggered a coronavirus outbreak among 60 Texas college students https://t.co/g8k5VvbhYn
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 25, 2020

Remember all those long lines outside Harper's in East Lansing?

So far, 14 people have gotten COVID in a Harper's-related outbreak. Ingham County was down to 1 case per day, and you all that went out ruined it an endangered the lives of others.https://t.co/hT5q9v8y0G
— (((Eli))) (@paleselan) June 23, 2020

In Orlando, 152 coronavirus cases were linked to one bar near the University of Central Florida campus, said Dr. Raul Pino, a state health officer in the tourism city.https://t.co/10QzhZ6rI8
— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) June 24, 2020

Why doesn't NC reopen bars? Read about the outbreak at an Orlando bar.https://t.co/gWG6UdHWnt
— Gail Graff (@fandggraff) June 23, 2020

North Texas family shaken after 18 relatives test positive for COVID-19 following surprise birthday partyhttps://t.co/OhAAAVJDgC
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) June 25, 2020

Amazon’s giant fulfillment center in Shakopee has joined the ranks of Minnesota workplaces with a large number of employees sickened by coronavirus, with at least 88 of its 1,000 workers testing positive. https://t.co/rW9tZfzgGk
— Star Tribune (@StarTribune) June 23, 2020

LATEST: Health officials identified four bars — two in Dinkytown and two in Mankato — as being sites in which young adults spread the #coronavirus to one another. https://t.co/5VfcibXyoY
— Star Tribune (@StarTribune) June 26, 2020

85 cases, from a single restaurant, that followed spacing guidelines, in a state with relatively low transmission.

I’m very pessimistic that there’s any safe way to reopen indoor dining. Capping occupancy won’t cut it. Outdoor and carry out only for now. https://t.co/o5XXS7yoaC
— Jeremy BLACK LIVES MATTER Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) June 27, 2020

Amazon’s giant fulfillment center in Shakopee has joined the ranks of Minnesota workplaces with a large number of employees sickened by coronavirus, with at least 88 of its 1,000 workers testing positive. https://t.co/rW9tZfzgGk
— Star Tribune (@StarTribune) June 23, 2020

LATEST: Health officials identified four bars — two in Dinkytown and two in Mankato — as being sites in which young adults spread the #coronavirus to one another. https://t.co/5VfcibXyoY
— Star Tribune (@StarTribune) June 26, 2020

Coronavirus stats update 6/25/20

The White House guidelines for states to reopen include a “downward trajectory of documented cases within a 14-day period.” Is your state meeting that criteria?

Keep tabs on how many #COVID19 cases are in each state with our county-level map: https://t.co/gV6pimXB8m.
— USAFacts (@USAFacts) May 18, 2020

Over half the country — 26 states — have seen their coronavirus caseloads increase over the past week.

New cases are up 77% in Arizona, 75% in Michigan, 70% in Texas and 66% in Florida. https://t.co/z1sNUqg8E5
— Axios (@axios) June 25, 2020

Statewide in AZ, "More than 3,000 new cases have been reported on four of the past seven days, more than 2,000 new cases have been reported on seven of the past eight days, and more than 1,000 new cases have been reported on each of the past 16 days, according to state data." https://t.co/jD3wbSSCwk
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) June 25, 2020

This is the chart that I think best captures the extent of the US debacle. It adjusts both for population and for the fact that the US surge started later. And it's damning pic.twitter.com/h1AtMRw3EI
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) June 25, 2020

If this doesn't make you angry, I don't know what will. pic.twitter.com/HHQJc69R9E
— Yascha Mounk (@Yascha_Mounk) June 25, 2020

BREAKING: U.S. breaks record for most COVID-19 cases recorded in a single day, with at least 36,358 new positives reported Wednesday.https://t.co/Dd2bptnQFt
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) June 24, 2020

What a horrifying and damning graph https://t.co/rfjp35E7Xr
— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) June 24, 2020

Pretty clear AZ has the worst outbreak in the country right now. https://t.co/qlkQqaOU3G
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) June 23, 2020

The pandemic is getting worse and it's getting worse particularly thanks to three states. https://t.co/laUhs7KNZT pic.twitter.com/lSUOiFFr37
— Philip Bump (@pbump) June 23, 2020

Saw someone suggest "cooling degree days" (basically the number of days that it's hot enough out that you'd want the AC on) as a proxy for states where it's currently too hot for people to want to be outdoors. It is indeed quite predictive of current COVID spread. pic.twitter.com/4iooEtXR7N
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) June 22, 2020

America's disastrous pandemic response, in one picture pic.twitter.com/EDxktnqQos
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) June 21, 2020

“It’s just a Blue State problem.” pic.twitter.com/FT1nR0NRxa
— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@ASlavitt) June 20, 2020

I'm finding this hard to square with the growing consensus on here that protests don't lead to a lot of new infections.

(Part of the problem is that the *overall* number of cases may not increase because of a simultaneous, unrelated downward trend.)

What am I missing? pic.twitter.com/IQ0E9ERz5z
— Yascha Mounk (@Yascha_Mounk) June 28, 2020

Fake video posted by the Trump campaign

The Trump campaign put up a post of video of Biden saying Covid-19 was a hoax. They left out the part where he said President Trump says it's a hoax. 20 years ago this would have been punished severely by the political press. They served as a check on these lies. No more.
— Joe Lockhart (@joelockhart) June 25, 2020

Right wing extremists using cars as weapons

NPR article

Self-identified KKK leader accused of driving through protesters sentenced to six years in prison https://t.co/Zfh6E01v1d
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 11, 2020

Police say police driving into crowds is fine.

ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS??? https://t.co/TtIRV9iVjq
— Touré (@Toure) June 23, 2020

In Iowa, the law is on the side of the truck driver hitting the protestor. The law was signed in 2021 by Governor Kim Reynolds, whose own truck had hit a BLM protestor.
The freedom to protest your shrinking freedoms are also being erased in red states. https://t.co/tux67vkbHc
— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn) July 9, 2022

Lawmakers in at least six states seem to have overcome whatever reticence they may once have felt about formally endorsing automobile attacks. From @pareene in 2021: https://t.co/4KdKhnLOpf
— The New Republic (@newrepublic) August 14, 2022

The Republican Party is a right wing extremist party

Something everyone in US politics should understand: the GOP is the farthest right major party in any developed democracy. To find analogues you have to look to splinter neo-fascist parties in the EU. https://t.co/LjKRL3FM4w pic.twitter.com/pwztpsYnNk
— David Roberts (@drvox) June 19, 2020

Ideological divides among partisans deepen: ABC News polling analysis https://t.co/cTAmyaSNSh
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) July 13, 2020