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Millions of Americans are sick of smug liberal elites who insult their intelligence, impugn their motives and ignore their concerns. Thats why Donald Trump won. In the days since Trumps ascendancy, youll come across some version of this argument in just about every political magazine or newspaper you consult including the ones that are edited by smug liberal elites. But ask yourself: Who are these elites? Was their influence really inflammatory enough to convince voters that handing Trump the White House was their only option? Were Trump supporters acting on a rational set of social and political grievances? How much blame does the left deserve for the rise of a president who spent most of his time pandering to the right?

When a pundit moans about how disconnected the elites are from everyday Americans, he could be talking about a professor at Brown or a long-serving senator or a columnist at The New York Times.

Elite is one of those words that comes with a built-in repository of negative associations (sort of like professor, senator and columnist, but we dont have all day). If youre someone from a state like Kansas or Oklahoma who leaves work with calluses on your hands and grime beneath your fingernails, plenty of politicians (usually Republicans) are eager to convince you that a bunch of coastal snobs are conspiring to make your life unbearable.

The image of a gruff, hardworking midwesterner with no patience for the Beltway or the ivory tower is a clich for a reason: It faithfully captures a common political and cultural attitude in the U.S.

Many disillusioned (often white and working class) voters are convinced that their values and interests are constantly under threat from Washington, D.C. And this scorn is often directed at people in academia and the media as well elite stooges who live on the edge of the swamp, but only wade in when it suits them.

The 2016 election produced abundant evidence that the anti-elite narrative works 67 percent of white voters without a college degree voted for Trump (a 39-point advantage over Hillary Clinton). In 2008 and 2012, the same demographic voted for John McCain and Mitt Romney over Barack Obama by 25 points and 18 points, respectively. Even though these are all substantial margins, Trump managed to secure a larger proportion of white working class votes than any candidate since 1980 (according to Pew). Does this mean the elites have been extra insufferable over the past few years? Or could it mean Trump is better than McCain and Romney at harnessing the resentment and rage of the anti-elite voting bloc? And heres a third possibility: Trump just has a talent for creating resentment and rage where none existed before (Millions of illegal votes? Yeah! Im angry about that!)

While theres some truth to the first interpretation, the second two are invariably overlooked by writers who think the outcome of the election was simply a rejection of the pious and censorious left-wingers who think Trump is an orange composite of Hitler and Montgomery Burns. Here are a few of the articles Im thinking of: How the Left Created Trump (Rob Hoffman, Politico), How the P.C. Police Propelled Donald Trump (Tom Nichols, The Daily Beast), Blame Liberals for the Rise of Trump (S.E. Cupp, Townhall). Other than the typical complaints about Clintons inadequacy as a candidate, these articles (and countless others like them) cite liberal complacency, arrogance and intolerance as the impetus behind Trumps victory. If liberals werent so moralizing and conceited if they would just listen to the rest of the country if they would stop tarring their political opponents with charges of bigotry, misogyny and racism then we wouldnt be facing four years of President Trump.

In other words, Trump voters are right about the liberal elites they really are a bunch of cackling imbeciles who didnt realize that they were the ones who made Trump inevitable.

Im sympathetic to these arguments theres no shortage of stupid liberal dogmas that empower the right, and it would be silly to suggest that this doesnt have anything to do with Trumps popularity. Heres the sort of thing that comes to mind: the obsession with gender pronouns, identity politics, safe spaces, trigger warnings, microaggressions and clumsy, counterproductive training programs for college students (I always found it insulting when I was forced to undergo training courses on sexual harassment and racial sensitivity I think I already understand the dos and donts, thanks). Theres also the immovable conviction that sincere religious beliefs are incapable of inspiring people to commit atrocities a form of advanced left-wing myopia that constantly allowed Trump to go on the offensive: Liberals dont even know who were fighting! They refuse to say radical Islamic terrorism! Sad!

Again, I get the point. But heres the problem: Trump isnt just a vessel for the complaints and anxieties of disgruntled Americans. If you voted for him, your vote was more than a repudiation of the liberal elites or the establishment or whichever murky, overused term you prefer.

You elected a man whose ignorance, narcissism and dishonesty was totally unconstrained by the standards to which Americans used to hold presidential candidates. You elected a man whose blind insularity (which is endlessly reiterated with his noxious slogan, America First) will only make the country poorer, less open and more vulnerable. You elected a man who rants about nuclear policy on Twitter and couldnt care less about the proliferation of weapons that have the destructive power to extinguish every life on the planet. You elected a man who thinks the U.S. should have stolen Iraqs oil at gunpoint. You elected a man who says yes to torture (I would bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding!) and no to Muslim refugees. You elected a man who promised to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants and consign American Muslims to a draconian registry on the basis of their religion.

Youre to blame not liberal elites; not social justice warriors; not pretentious professors. You.

By the way, what could be more elitist than the liberals created Trump thesis? Unlike the writers mentioned above, Im treating you like a thinking person who made his or her own decision in November. You didnt elect Trump just because liberals despise him you elected Trump because you identify with his rhetoric and endorse his policies. You elected Trump because youre convinced that hell Make America Great Again. Right?

Contact Matt Johnson at (785) 295-1282 or @mattjj89 on Twitter.

Excerpt from:
Matt Johnson: Are liberals responsible for Trump's victory? - Topeka Capital Journal