Jack Hornor: Trump backers aren’t somehow ‘less than’

Supporters listen as Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event in Concord, N.H., Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. AP PHOTO/MATT ROURKE

Published: 01-31-2024 6:19 PM

I am not a supporter of Donald Trump, and I have many negative feelings about his presidency. But I have no negative feelings about anyone who voted for him or who supports him now.

Almost 63 million people voted for Trump. These people are husbands, wives, parents, neighbors, co-workers, church members, and friends. They feel love, pain, joy, sadness and all the other feelings that everyone can.

To label them as “less than” because we disagree with their politics is profoundly wrong. They are not “less intelligent.” They are not “less informed.” They simply see the United States in different ways than most progressive or liberal people do.

That is their right as members of a country where tolerance and understanding are ideals that should be applied to everyone.

When I hear people criticize Trump supporters, or when I read about them doing so, it seems to me that the critics often lack empathy, the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

Empathy is not something we are born with. We learn it or don’t as we grow up, and we can learn and practice it now if we want to. I ask critics to take some time to “walk in their shoes” and understand why they feel the way they do.

We do not have to agree with them. But they are our fellow citizens and deserve better than the criticism they have received so often.

Jack Hornor

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