I can’t recall ever seeing Trump show empathy and I watch and follow way too much politics. Is he capable of empathy? Maybe I’m reading him wrong. Maybe he lies so much I can’t see the truth when he does speak it. Has anyone else seen what I haven’t?
Has anyone ever seen Trump show genuine empathy?
His focus seems to be only himself and his family / friends. He doesn't show empathy for anyone who isn't promising to support him - and even then I believe it is not real since he turns on even those people with no warning.
Exactly what I’ve seen.
Trump doesn't know what empathy is.
We should judge politicians (or anyone else) on what they do, not what they say.
Trump uses a vernacular that doesn’t connect with me. But it does connect with a lot of his voter base. They see empathy, honesty, everything they need.
Trump is one of those rare politicians who sounds worse than he is. Most others are the exact opposite. They hit all the right notes, like a practiced singer, but the net result in actions is still mostly disappointing.
This is not to say you’d like him if you only judged him by his action. I am not negating your overarching point. I just think that the overall disapproval he cops (and some of the extra credit his predecessor got) would even out a little bit.Trump is one of those rare politicians who sounds worse than he is.
That's what I hoped when he was elected. In actuality he is as bad or worse than he sounds.
I'm curious what you think he has accomplished outside of destabilizing our government, wiping out actions that were put in place by Obama, opting to do nothing about COVID-19, fanning the flames of racism.
1) Forced NATO allies to pay more for their own security. Countries like Germany were paying less for their own safety against Russia than what American tax payers were paying. While most of the contracts were still going to Russian companies.
2) Trade contracts that benefit American companies and American workers. Example: American motorcycle companies were being taxed more than 100% in Asia while the reverse wasn’t true. He’s asking foreign governments for more in return.
3) Growth in economy and lowest unemployment records in the last 50 years. This was before Covid-19 blew it all to hell of course. You might argue that the economy growing was organic and had little to do with him. In that case, you mustn’t give credit to economic progress to Obama either.
There are other examples. But my point was different. I know there are many more examples of his policies where he shit the bed. So this list can be rebutted.
My point is that people spend a lot more time scrutinizing his words rather than having constructive arguments against his policy failings. They blame him now for things that have existed before him and will continue after him (Police brutality, racism, sexism, confederate statues).
This unites his voter base even more.
Evangelical Christians overwhelmingly supported Trump in 2016 for his stance on family and faith. Unfortunately his behavior goes against the Christian view of grace, compassion and love your neighbor as you love yourself. I see a shift in their support in 2020. It's hard to divorce the rhetoric from the behavior in my opinion.
This unites his voter base even more.
It appears that his non-response to COVID-19 is finally turning some in his base against him.
Thankfully, yes it is.
There is a correlation of course. Thoughts lead to words. Words to influence and action.
I don’t know if he’s done enough to lose that vote though. I guess we’ll know in a few months.
The NRA just endorsed him. Eventually, money wins elections. Or, if I were to phrase that differently, old money has a way of winning elections.
This election is going to be really interesting. People who always disliked him, hate him even more. The question is whether his own vote bank feels betrayed. Or will they stand by him.
These are the kinds of conversations I love, where two views can be debated rationally. Thank you.
I think I personally have arrived at believing the Bushes and Obama were generally good men who made some mistakes, but Trump is an awful man who has done a few good things.
With W Bush, invading Iraq, well intentioned it may have been, was a bridge too far for me. Same for Trump and Covid.
I heard an analysis of Trumps language a few years ago and they said that because he uses simple language a larger number of people believe what he says. People tend not to trust people who use esoteric language or that try to explain nuance. The trouble is nuance matters and Trump’s simple language does not indicate he isn’t lying.
I think it’s important for people to realize that a lot of support for Trump is not due to liking him but comes from many years of disliking what other politicians have brought to their personal lives.
I try to remind myself that many things politicians do that upset me are things other people like. Take pro lifers for example. That helps me deal with my disappointment, frustration and anger. Trump however is a new breed of vile.
The average Trump voter is certainly less educated than the average responders to this thread. I’m asking myself what they’d think if they read it. Again the average supporter, and I’m thinking they might find our language and words make them feel a bit uncomfortable and feel we are elitists. Just a feeling. I think someone who speaks simply and avoids nuance (even at the expense of truth) would be much better at getting Trump voters to move away from him. Question is would that person alienate much of the Democrats? If only there was a third party.
I have a relative in Central Utah who is all-in on Trump to the point that she recently posted on Facebook a picture of Jesus Christ consoling Trump in the White House. I have no words. 😱
Empathy?
Good to see you, Dan. ❤️
That was an interesting thread. I don't know why his campaign team doesn't mention those things because I know many people adore him and as you can see from the thread, his acts of kindness brought tears to their eyes.
For me, some of these things are really tough to accept in light of what he does so publicly. For example, this tweet:
And yet...the whole Central Park Five saga raged for decades before 2015 with Donald paying for full-page ads in New York Papers calling for the death penalty for those 5. When they were exonerated by DNA evidence and the confession of the guy who did the crime and set free, he never showed empathy or apologized. He was widely thought of as racist all those years, so I dunno.
Speaking of people who adore him, Don Lemon makes the point that all Donald would have to do is say please wear a mask, it's the best way to contain the pandemic — and millions of his followers who adore him would do it. That one sentence from him would save tens of thousands of lives.
I have heard this analysis. That President Trump is not an ideologue. That he sees wrongs and rights and he just calls it like he sees it. He doesn’t filter things thru color or gender. You can see some evidence of this in his show and his business practice. He truly doesn’t seem to care about gender or race he wants the best person for the job. There are tons of evidence more than the twitter thread shows that he truly cares about people (which is the definition of empathy) and goes out of his way to be inclusive.
Does a racist without empathy do this?
Kanye loves him. Dennis Rodman, Mike Tyson. These are all people that know him personally and have been around him closely. Even Amorasa adored him until she didn’t. So I don’t know. I’m reading the Bible cover to cover right now. Look at Solomon, He had 600 concubines. Yet he wrote huge sections of the Bible, Psalms which are amazing words. A totally imperfect man, a sinner yet one of the greatest leaders of all time. I know when I get to the New Testament I’m going to find a new message. The one that Jesus offered. Love one another. I hope that message is the one that prevails.
Right, I got a chuckle out of that. It’s just to hard to figure out. Of course fun too for those of us that love politics. Sun Tzu says all war is the art of deception. Maybe all everything right now is the art of deception. Glad I’m so darn busy building Solar Vents!
But what about Mike!
Kanye- great anti-USA propaganda material if you ask me. Wow lol
It’s possible Trump isn’t as racist he’s made out to be and that the real issue is his base laps up his America-first/anti-immigrant rhetoric and that he’s surrounded himself with racist ideologues like Stephen Miller. In other words, Trump may have just been the one to reveal who/what the Republican Party really is. If that makes sense. Still, things like the Central Park Five saga are really bad and don’t cast a good light on Trump. So, it’s also possible Trump revealed who he really was during this whole thing. It is an interesting question for sure.
Dennis Rodman being friends with Kim Jong-Un is so freaking random. Lmao 😂 What’s a bit sad is people forget how good of a basketball player Rodman really was. He’s more known for his off-court oddities than his on-court play.
