The failure of the establishment elite’s scorched earth war on former President Donald J. Trump to erode his support may have led one New York Times columnist to have an epiphany that perhaps it isn’t the 2024 GOP frontrunner who’s really the villain.
In the screed by longtime opinion writer David Brooks, the author ponders Trump’s poll numbers which “are stronger against Biden now than at any time in 2020” despite multiple criminal indictments, the latest being the January 6 sledgehammer dropped by the exalted Resistance hero Special Counsel Jack Smith earlier this week.
“What’s going on here? Why is this guy still politically viable, after all he’s done?” Brooks asks, as he recalls a recent quote about the deplorables, “Republicans see a world changing around them uncomfortably fast, and they want it to slow down, maybe even take a step backward. But if you are a person of color, a woman who values gender equality or an L.G.B.T. person, would you want to go back to 1963? I doubt it.”
We in the educated class are always publicly speaking out for the marginalized, but somehow we always end up building systems that serve ourselves. https://t.co/vLGHYGKcse
— David Brooks (@nytdavidbrooks) August 2, 2023
“In this story, we anti-Trumpers are the good guys, the forces of progress and enlightenment. The Trumpers are reactionary bigots and authoritarians. Many Republicans support Trump no matter what, according to this story, because at the end of the day, he’s still the bigot in chief, the embodiment of their resentments and that’s what matters to them most,” Brooks wrote. “I partly agree with this story, but it’s also a monument to elite self-satisfaction.”
“So let me try another story on you. I ask you to try on a vantage point in which we anti-Trumpers are not the eternal good guys. In fact, we’re the bad guys,” he continued, noting that the highly educated cultural elite have “built an entire social order that sorts and excludes people on the basis of the quality that we possess most: academic achievement,” and which excludes the sort of ordinary working Americans who comprise Trump’s base.
“Does this mean that I think the people in my class are vicious and evil? No. Most of us are earnest, kind and public-spirited. But we take for granted and benefit from systems that have become oppressive. Elite institutions have become so politically progressive in part because the people in them want to feel good about themselves as they take part in systems that exclude and reject,” he wrote.
Brooks’ self-reflective column didn’t impress many Twitter/X users who ripped him to shreds.
This is a nice column but it basically lands at the standard upper class liberal position of “we probably can’t do anything about it, but at least we confessed our privilege. Let’s go get a latte.” https://t.co/umG4vWIcQs
— David Marcus (@BlueBoxDave) August 3, 2023
Screw you. I want your whole class crushed. https://t.co/quo52O01PP
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) August 3, 2023
From now on, I’m beginning every article with “We in the educated class…” https://t.co/WLHMSbpwgU
— Jon Gabriel (@exjon) August 3, 2023
You are definitely the bad guys, there is zero question about it.
— Veritas Libertas (@VeritasLiberta8) August 3, 2023
You in the brainwashed class are always pompously telling other people that you know what’s good for them. https://t.co/nLIv7dTFZX
— Nick Searcy, INSURRECTIONAL FILM & TELEVISION STAR (@yesnicksearcy) August 3, 2023
And even in this moment of sub-par self reflection, you still managed to write it with a lure of superiority. I’m willing to bet there was a tad bit of self satisfying pats on the back after putting out this piece – Am I right? ♀️
— ~DeTheBrat~ (@DeTheBrat) August 3, 2023
In other words, your entire “class” says one thing, but does another, and that “another” is always self-serving. Guess what that makes your “class”?
— Tom in FL (@thomasa56) August 3, 2023
You are and have been for at least the last 7 years and you seem to be only one that’s just figured it out.
— Memill (@Memill71) August 3, 2023
All that education and only now you’re realizing this?
— David Schmitt (@dschmitt) August 2, 2023
Congratulations, after at least a decade in blindness you’ve finally stumbled on an albeit filtered glimpse of the obvious. Step 2 is doing something about it. I can’t wait to read the thought pieces with detailed recommendations for deconstructing the ruling urban clerisy
— Joey Campbell (@jrok78) August 3, 2023
You missed the part where “your side” starts censoring, investigating, threatening, demonizing, and jailing the “other side.”
— Joel (@joelwuzhere) August 3, 2023
“Are Trump supporters right that the indictments are just a political witch hunt? Of course not. As a card-carrying member of my class, I still basically trust the legal system and the neutral arbiters of justice. Trump is a monster in the way we’ve all been saying for years and deserves to go to prison,” Brooks concludes, a fitting exclamation point that leaves no doubt as to who the “bad guys” really are.
Get the latest BPR news delivered free to your inbox daily. SIGN UP HERE
DONATE TO AMERICAN WIRE
If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to American Wire News to help us fight them.
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.