HOW REASONABLE AMERICANS COULD SUPPORT TRUMP

An exploration of Trump’s appeal with conservative voters.

Rees—an older, White, churchgoing veteran and medical doctor who meditates twice a day, is “mostly vegetarian,” lives in California (in a home powered by solar panels), and owns a Prius—is difficult to pigeonhole in the clearly demarcated ideological divides of America. While his other publications include peer-reviewed scientific articles and books on the war on terror, this book began at a Thanksgiving table in 2015 as his family expressed their first of many hot takes on Donald Trump. As its title denotes, this book is written in defense of “reasonable” Trump supporters, like members of Rees’ family, who, he notes, are “neither racists nor misogynists.” Rees implores liberals to understand that the best way to “extinguish Trumpism” is not by shaming his supporters (which only encourages them to retreat further into their political camp). The “key to changing the minds of Trump supporters” is to “connect with them.” Indeed, while the book is often critical of Trump as well as his fringe supporters who buy into QAnon conspiracies or who participated in the “terrorist mob” on Jan. 6, it’s careful to emphasize the ways that Trump’s rhetorical emphasis on patriotism, “political correctness gone awry,” and a “rigged” system resonated with disillusioned Americans whom liberals “have failed spectacularly in relating to.” Constantly seeking ways to find common ground between conservatives and liberals, the book’s final chapters emphasize the importance of communication and empathy across political divides. Written in a politically informed, center-right tone that tackles hot-button issues with nuance and avoids ad hominemand other unfair arguments, this is a refreshingly poised narrative that draws on sociological and psychological studies of human behavior. Still, many on the left may not buy its central argument that Trump’s QAnon or racist fringes are indeed fringes.

A well-considered, moderate interpretation of Trumpism that may unfortunately only resonate with those already in the ideological center.