Dear Tell All: Ever since 2016, I’ve been trying to talk my parents out of loving Donald Trump. It’s been a losing battle, given their loyalty to Fox News and their chumminess with fellow Trump lovers up in Appleton. Whenever Trump does something outrageously mean, racist or even treasonous, their network helps them explain it away. Often they don’t even hear about the ugliest stuff because Fox either downplays or ignores it.
To my surprise, however, reality broke through in a recent news cycle. Even more surprising, it was a relatively minor offense in the Trump universe of coddling dictators, praising neo-Nazis and obstructing investigations.
My parents happened to see the clip of Trump speaking to reporters’ children at the White House during “Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day.” For the first time, they recoiled at his nasty tone when he told the kids “I like you much more than your parents.”
My father — who never before conceded a political point to me — agreed that Trump shouldn’t have insulted the kids’ parents in their presence. My mother — no lover of the media — was upset that the president tried to get the children on his side against their moms and dads. “Leave the kids out of it,” she said.
I don’t know why my parents have chosen to draw the line with this particular incident, but I see an opening. What’s the best way to exploit it?
Kamala Harris 2020
Dear KH2020: Like the Democratic Party itself, you need to be politically savvy in pulling Trump voters to your side. For example, you probably shouldn’t try to convince your parents that Trump should be impeached for his insensitive comments to the reporters’ kids. They’ll just get defensive and retreat back into their Fox News bubble.
Instead, discreetly make use of what you now know: that your parents believe in sensible norms when it comes to children. Find just the right time to remind them of other Trump encounters with kids, like the 2017 speech to Boy Scouts that was so inappropriate the organization had to apologize for it. Or, for a more stunning example, the administration’s policy of separating migrant children from their families at the border.
Let us know if you make any headway with your Trump-loving parents, KH2020. It might be a bellwether for the 2020 election.
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