Donald Trump’s white voters were the subject of a CNN discussion between host Don Lemon, and two other panelists on Friday night. The talk specifically centered around white voters who live in rural areas across the United States.
The nation is still absorbing the reality that Donald Trump got elected, and journalists, pundits, analysts, and pollsters are trying to figure out how the election result came out of left field.
The working-class American was an oversight in the 2016 election, in particular rural white voters. It appears from the CNN broadcast with Lemon, that some view Trump’s white voters as “out of touch,” a demographic that “don’t get out much.”
Raw Story recapped the segment on CNN. Don Lemon was joined by panelists such as Roll Call writer Patrick Thornton, and CNN contributor Salena Zito. They dissected the reasons why Trump’s white rural voters voted the way they did and how it was an affront to minorities. Thornton backed claims made that rural America exists in a “bubble.”
Don Lemon sets panelist straight after she claims rural white people know minorities from TV https://t.co/VGAuL9ER0U pic.twitter.com/BZ4h5JDkzk
— Raw Story (@RawStory) November 12, 2016
Thornton wrote an article about living in the Midwest and moving to a coastal region. He declares that the bubble is white rural America.
“A lot of people are saying that it’s the people on the coast, they need to get out of their bubbles and they need to see more of America to understand why people voted for Donald Trump,” he explains. “The county I come from is 97 percent white.”
The writer continued that live in a “white bubble” and “don’t know anybody other than themselves.”
Among rural Trump supporters, an America that has lost its way https://t.co/W2VPKG54l7 via @BridgeMichigan White, rural, & believe a #ConMan
— Margaret Nielsen (@msunielsen) October 19, 2016
Zito had the opposite view about where the bubble is. She believes that people on the coast are who live in the bubble and was offended that Thornton thinks those who live in the middle of the country “don’t get out much” and “live in a bubble.”
Don Lemon called out Zito when she thought watching diversity on television was equal to surrounding one’s self with those of minorities in society. The CNN contributor explained that white people who are used to strictly being around people like themselves, see other races in advertising, television, and when they occasionally travel to New York.
“Salena, that’s different than living among people, going to school with them, having one over for dinner, maybe having a family member, maybe dating one, marrying one,” Lemon said. “That’s different than watching it on television. I watched the Beverly Hillbillies , or Lost In Space , or the Brady Bunch as a kid, but I didn’t really know them.”
Zito tried clarifying her point by stating that people who seemingly live in a bubble shouldn’t be “punished” for where they reside.
“That was the point I was taking issue with. People live where they live, and I don’t think they should necessarily be punished because that’s where people settle,” she said.
Watch the entire segment below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBDWjnwJKJ8
The in-depth article written by Thornton at Roll Call is about his personal experience of never being exposed to different people and cultures until he moved from Ohio to Washington, D.C., long after his school years. It was 97 percent white where Thornton grew up. From where he stands, people who live in this bubble and never “get out” are rather ignorant to the challenges that faces minorities in more urban areas.
An excerpt from the article is below.
“I have friends and acquaintances who are Trump supporters. They genuinely do not understand today’s shock, particularly from minorities. These Trump supporters do not understand that many minorities believe the people who voted for Trump endorse his racism and bigotry — that those voters care more about sending a message to the political establishment than they do about the rights and welfare of human beings.
“And, of course, people on the coasts could stand to meet more rural and exurban people, to understand why they are anxious about a changing world and less economic opportunity. But rural and exurban people need to see more of America. People do not understand the depths of how little rural America travels and sees other people and cultures.”
The “forgotten” people of America spoke out on Election Day when Donald Trump was announced as the nation’s next president. It wasn’t a win anyone expected. There’s speculation that the result even stunned Trump himself, even though he predicted all along that this would be Brexit times three, four, or five. He was certainly correct in saying it was a “movement” — a movement from the silent majority who swayed the vote in a direction that blindsided the world.
[Featured Image by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]
