It’s no secret that liberals, progressives, moderate Republicans — women, people of color, Muslims or anyone else who resides outside of that base of blue collar White America all have questions over Donald Trump’s fitness to become president.
But some might say there’s enough substance on the record, that goes beyond his orange skin and bombastic egotism, to openly hate the man. And, hate might be a pretty strong word. but when certain voters feel like the Republican nominee is in fact the embodiment of evil, a deep-seeded anger towards his rhetoric can bubble over into something more.
“The way that Trump interacts with other people is very violent, he seems like a physical bully … He seeks out conflicts in which he is going to be gratuitously brutal to other people,” one self-described feminist told The Intercept. “I think women instinctively pick up on that. And it has nothing to do with policy.”
Perhaps that is true. In any event, we’ve tapped into five things voters are talking about as reasons they hate Trump:
His privilege & inheritance of the good life
If Trump is anything, he is a rich white man. That in and of itself is enough for some people to hate the man — who, by the way, inherited his social status by way of family connections and millions of dollars that were just given to him. Though we love a good story of boot-strapped success of the self-made variety, aristocrats of Trump’s ilk are oftentimes mocked and chided at the dinner tables of working families, families who would rather spit in his face than have to stay at a Trump hotel or a eat one of his Trump steaks.
His speeches are inflammatory
It all started with the “build a wall” rhetoric last summer, which highlighted his ability to wield the English language in insightful terms that not everyone finds palatable. To some, he sounds downright ignorant — and to others, his speech contains far too many lies. All of it is fodder for their derision.
Trump will be forever been linked with his unkind labels toward the “unwanted” people of flowing across the southern border looking for refuge from conditions in Mexico. With an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Syria and the growing threat of what he calls “radical Islamic terrorism,” Trump has predicted that a Trojan Horse is entering the country and that homespun terrorism will result of the process. In belaboring the point, he often comes across as crass with ill intentions toward those not like him.
He openly admires dictators
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It’s no secret that Trump has a certain reverence for Russia’s authoritarian president. And not many people admire the hermetic kingdom of North Korea, or its dictatorial regime that frequently spins its own version of history and jails detractors with immeasurable force — all while crafting nuclear weapons that, supposedly, will one day be aimed at America.
Trump admires Kim Jong-Un’s tactics, however: How many young guys — he was like 26 or 25 when his father died — take over these tough generals, and all of a sudden … he goes in, he takes over, and he’s the boss. It’s incredible. He wiped out the uncle, he wiped out this one, that one.
That is a first in a would-be president, and the thought gives some of his detractors nightmares.
He flip flops on every major issue
Here is a man whose mind changes at a whim, based upon mood swings that are evident to viewers needing no degree in psychology to dictate that he is more than a political chameleon — he is a person that can’t remain focused, and flies in the face of empirical evidence based upon how he’s feeling. Many former presidents and other current politicians have cited the need for the president to be steady and unshakable, while Trump appears to be the opposite.
And on some issues, he has changed his mind dozens of times, leaving many to wonder which Donald they’re going to get. The one who wants to defeat ISIS? Stay out of the Middle East? Raise the minimum wage? Leave it where it is? Force the wealthy to pay more in taxes? Cut taxes across the board? Criminalize abortion? Give women the right to choose? The list goes on…
His treatment of women
Feminists are totally appalled and besides themselves, but even less extreme Americans who happily uphold the tradition gender roles can’t stomach the way Trump denigrates women. Just this election cycle, Trump has questioned Carly Fiorina over her looks, grated Megyn Kelly for having “blood coming out of her wherever,” lobbed more attacks at Rosie O’Donnell and of course was caught on an audio tape revealing that his star power granted him to be “grabbing (women) by the p—y.”