"Remember when Trump told you that he would release his tax returns and then never did? Remember when he said that if he won the election he would put his business interests aside? “Ever since
Trump and his
family arrived in Washington they have essentially hung a
for-sale sign on the White House by refusing to meaningfully separate themselves from their own business interests,” Bloomberg’s
Tim O’Brien notes. “That’s certainly not lost on the companies that do business in or with Washington. They know that in Trump’s swamp, you pay to play.”
Much of this will surprise folks who get all of their news from Fox commentators and talk-radio hosts, with whom they are in a dysfunctional relationship.
The GOP base is drawn to media figures who support their president and quickly turn on those who criticize him as if they are guilty of a betrayal; for that reason, many populist-right pundits are reluctant to criticize the president or to delve deeply into the behavior of the swamp creatures he has enabled. Instead, they pander to the GOP base, keep them in the dark about important corruption—and so fail to keep the president and his associates accountable. That very betrayal of their audience is what creates the illusion of their loyalty.
I opposed electing Trump, but I’m always 100 percent honest with his supporters. And when I give specific examples of how he has failed to drain the swamp, some lash out at me for telling them truths that they don’t want to face, or angrily change the subject by pointing out that various establishment politicians have been guilty of flagrant cronyism in the past. Well, duh.
The folks who supported those bygone politicians anyway harmed the country. Does the GOP rank and file want to be just like the folks they used to criticize or be better?
Bygone Democratic misdeeds don’t change the fact that Trump’s behavior is hurting America––and that he won’t change until his supporters demand a higher standard.
If the GOP base persists in blinding itself to the unethical people who trade on their relationships with the current president, America will continue to be sold out by the very faction that swore it would make it great again.Wake up, Trump supporters—
your country needs you to hold the man you elected accountable to his promises rather than blindly defending him to own liberals. Demand better or your country suffers."
--
The Atlantic:
"It’s Time for Trump Voters to Face the Bitter Truth", by
Conor Friedersdorf