I’ve often written about white privilege, and I’ve grown somewhat accustomed to the tone-deafness exhibited by those who possess it and the willful ignorance shared by the countless Americans who accept Donald Trump’s divisive diatribes. That said, I do not demonize those who voted for Donald Trump in 2016.
Do I think he was clearly a vile, xenophobic, sexist, misogynistic white nationalist at the time? Yes. However, I also realize that people are motivated to vote for different reasons. Some voted for Trump willingly, not agreeing with his deeply flawed character and trafficking in racial tropes, but believing his absurd promises like bringing coal back as a major energy source. He has the power to make people believe the impossible – it’s the mark of a highly-skilled charlatan.
I am more critical of anyone supporting Donald Trump’s presidential reelection bid in 2020, given all we have witnessed from him over the past four years. Specifically, I find myself calling out Kirstie Alley, yet again, for throwing her support behind Donald Trump as she did in 2016. Whereas I could willingly accept those who voted with financial concerns at that time, Alley was not one of them, nor is she now with an estimated 40 million dollar net worth after a decades-long, successful career in Hollywood.
Baring concerns about money and believing Trump’s false claims of being an economic savior for America, the only other reason I can find supporting Donald Trump is that you agree with his racist ideology and have decided upon being comfortably complicit in his deplorable behavior.
Kirstie Alley got dragged on social media over the weekend for once again making her devotion to Donald Trump known to the masses, and for the most nonsensical reason: ‘because he’s not a politician.’
Shelly Long was way funnier than you. https://t.co/tksxTX0yiM
— Judd Apatow 🇺🇦 (@JuddApatow) October 18, 2020
Over the past four years, I have heard so many Trump reporters join Alley in the foolish assessment that having no political experience and ‘not being a politician’ were credentials by which someone should be handed the keys to the global economy with power to make life-defining legislative mandates for over a quarter billion people, and gasp, given the ability to deploy the nuclear codes!
As reported by USA TODAY, Alley faced a near-immediate backlash on Twitter, Saturday night, after tweeting:
“I’m voting for @realDonaldTrump because he’s NOT a politician. I voted for him 4 years ago for this reason and shall vote for him again for this reason. He gets things done quickly, and he will turn the economy around quickly. There you have it, folks there you have it”
I’m voting for @realDonaldTrump because he’s NOT a politician. I voted for him 4 years ago for this reason and shall vote for him again for this reason. He gets things done quickly and he will turn the economy around quickly. There you have it folks there you have it🙄
— Kirstie Alley (@kirstiealley) October 17, 2020
Every day peeps and other Hollywood celebrities slammed Alley’s comments, sight Trump’s botched handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the economic fallout still being felt by millions as a result of his negligence. Additionally, others rightfully called out Trump’s ongoing attempts to high-jack the Obama administration’s work that was the true catalyst for America’s economic recovery after the Bush years resulted in the largest economic and housing crisis since the Great Depression.
When Obama took office, he inherited nearly 11% unemployment from Bush and, in 8 years, reduced it to 4.6%, which is what Trump inherited. Before the COVID crisis impacted our economy, under Trump, the unemployment rate was 3.5%. Basic math shows clearly who did all the heavy lifting to get this country back on track financially– and it wasn’t the orange guy – it was the black guy. So what is Alley talking about?
You're right, he's a six-time bankrupt "business man," who defrauded his own charity and duped people to buy bogus university classes, among other crimes.
Perfect choice.
— Leslieoo7 🇺🇲 (@Leslieoo7) October 17, 2020
At this stage, Trump supporters need just to own the fact that they have aligned themselves with a racist president who is officially endorsed by by the murderous KKK, violence militia groups, the Proud Boys, David Duke, and Q-anon, all of whom have been categorized as hate groups but the Southern Poverty Law Center. If you support him, that is the company you’re in, and it is a dark segment of humanity.
No longer can Alley and others credibly claim they support Trump because of his economic prowess and success, when we now know he’s a failed businessman, with a fraudulent university, who has evaded paying taxes for nearly fifteen years. He has a personal debt of over $400,000,000 to secret entities who won’t reveal as he continues to hide his taxes. For Kirstie Alley, though, that’s all ok because “he’s not a politician.”
When Alley claims Trump will get this country back on track financially, maybe she missed the memo; under Trump’s failed leadership, according to Business Insider,
The national debt of the United States barreled past $23 trillion on November 1, 2019, according to data from the Treasury Department. It marked the most money the federal government has owed and is a result of a growing budget deficit, which neared $1 trillion in the last fiscal year.
To put that in perspective, the $23 trillion figure is roughly equal to the economies of China, Japan, and Germany combined, according to the Peterson Foundation, an organization advocating deficit reduction.
But hey Kirstie, at least Trump’s not a politician.
With that in mind, I decided to apply Kirsty Alley’s “not a politician” logic to other potential aspects of her life, and I’ve made a few suggestions for her below:
- Hey Kirstie, next time you need a breast examination, take it to an auto mechanic … because he’s not a mammographer.
- Hey Kirstie, for your next feminine health check-up and pap smear, I think you should schedule it with your favorite chef … because he’s not a gynecologist.
- Hey Kirstie, for your next big red carpet event, when you need your hair and makeup done, maybe you should ask your dentist, you know … because he’s not a beauty stylist.
- And …maybe when you need your taxes prepared next year, you can ask a mortician … because he’s not an accountant.
To further drive it home, I’ll leave you with this little gem from Twitter user, Diedrich Bader:
Actually, he’s running for RE election
He’s a politician
Also, strange argument
Like “i want someone who’s NOT a pilot to land the plane”— Diedrich Bader (@bader_diedrich) October 18, 2020
Read More @ USAToday
This piece is an opinion piece by one Contributing Writer for Instinct Magazine and may not reflect the opinion of the magazine or other Contributing Writers.
