There was anger over POTUS’s remarks about LeBron James & Don Lemon. The unsubtle racial overtones brought to mind interviews I did with Trump supporters at a rally of vintage car owners in western Penn. 1/
The president seems to instinctively get what arouses a swath of his core supporters.
The covo among 3 car owners moved from illegal immigrants to Black Lives Matter to NFL kneelers. 2/
The covo among 3 car owners moved from illegal immigrants to Black Lives Matter to NFL kneelers. 2/
Owner No. 1: ‘Veterans are coming back with arms and limbs missing, nobody protests about that shit. But you’ve got thse foreigners that ain’t supposed to be here to begin with and they’re out there protesting…3/
…Hey, put them all in a boat and send them back where they came from and let them sort it out. Why should we pay for it?’ 4/
Topic shifted to the East Pittsburgh shooting in June of an unarmed black teenager, Antwon Rose, while fleeing a white police officer, who was charged with homicide. 5/
Owner No. 2: Blacks are shooting each other four times a night. And then they have these vigils and everything for (Rose). That’s a bunch of bullshit. 6/
No. 1: Whether or not the cop should have shot him, I won’t argue. The part I don’t like, they shoot five or six a day in Pittsburgh: black on black. 25, 30 each in Chicago and Detroit. Nobdody protests that.... 7/
...But let a white cop do his job and shoot a black guy that don’t do what he’s told, now it’s Black Lives Matter! 8/
This lead to NFL kneelers.
Owner No. 3: I quit watching sports when they knelt down. If they do that again this year, I’ll quit again. I’m a veteran. A couple of us here can say that. I have no time for that, period. 9/
Owner No. 3: I quit watching sports when they knelt down. If they do that again this year, I’ll quit again. I’m a veteran. A couple of us here can say that. I have no time for that, period. 9/
...They’re paid to play football, not to protest.The NFL could have stopped this when Kaepernick first did it. We’d have fired ‘em in Pittsburgh, if you know the Steelers. They’d have fired his ass. 10/
Despite their identification with views the president has championed, the muscle car owners were cynical about politics and the president himself.
No. 1: I think he’s got the country in turmoil.
No. 2: I don’t vote because my vote doesn’t count. 11/
No. 1: I think he’s got the country in turmoil.
No. 2: I don’t vote because my vote doesn’t count. 11/
No. 3. What I’ll do is a week before the election I’ll read their lies and pick out the one that’s least agitating to me. They all promise a bunch of bullshit. I vote so I can bitch. 12/
No. 2: I’ve given up on our country. And I’m glad I’m old. 13/13
