The passage of a few days to allow for more mature reflection after Election Day has not affected Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart. On Friday’s PBS News Hour, Capehart attributed Donald Trump’s victory to “racism and sexism” and a list of other horribles that the country refuses to acknowledge.
After New York Times columnist David Brooks observed that out-of-touch college-educated elites were to blame, host Geoff Bennett asked Capehart if he agreed, “Jonathan, do you see that same kind of realignment, that the new fault line in our politics is education level?”
Capehart didn’t disagree, but he would much rather avoid any introspection. “It's one of them. I mean, I don't disagree with anything that David just said in terms of his analysis, but we cannot ignore what was being discussed in the last segment there with Errin Haines and Professor Dittmar. The role of racism and sexism, misogyny, grievance, white nationalism, that was very much a part of Donald Trump's campaign.”
He then lamented, “I think we need to acknowledge it. We need to talk about it. And then I think, as a country, we need to confront it. We’ve never done it in our history. We probably won't do it now.”
Perhaps because he is the definition of the aloof elite that Brooks was talking about, Capehart naturally had other things to blame, “We could talk about education realignment. We can talk about political realignment. But until we talk about the grievances that Donald Trump exploited, as Professor Dittmar said, we're going to be in this mess for a while.”
Bennett then turned to Brooks and asked, “What about that, David, that that wasn't disqualifying?”
Brooks replied that while he personally is no Trump fan, Democrats still need to ask themselves why Kamala Harris managed to perform so badly, “I personally think Donald Trump is clearly a misogynist. I think he's clearly a racist. I think that's been in his family for generations, frankly. But to make that argument, somehow, you also have to explain why the gender gap went down, why Kamala Harris did worse among women than Joe Biden did.”
He added, “Somehow, you have to explain why Trump got more Black voters than any Republicans since Richard Nixon. Somehow, you have to explain how he massively improved Republicans standing among Hispanic voters.”
For Brooks, the answer is voters aren’t as obsessed with race and sex-based identity politics as Democrats are, “The way I would explain those phenomenon is race and sexism were clearly major facts in American life. But I think in our politics, class is rising in salience and race and gender are falling in salience. And when you say people had to choose between their race or their gender for — about white women, you're ignoring that they have brains and that they have economic views, they have social views, they have a million other views. And so those views are part of how people make their decisions, not just an ethnic identity.”
If Trump is as bad as Capehart says he is, then he should ask himself how it was possible to lose to him. Attacking the voters as racist and sexism while women and minorities voted for him in larger numbers is a recipe for Capehart to have to repeat himself in four years.
Here is a transcript for the November 8 show:
PBS News Hour
11/8/0224
7:37 PM ET
GEOFF BENNETT: Jonathan, do you see that same kind of realignment, that the new fault line in our politics is education level?
JONATHAN CAPEHART: It's one of them. I mean, I don't disagree with anything that David just said in terms of his analysis, but we cannot ignore what was being discussed in the last segment there with Errin Haines and Professor Dittmar. The role of racism and sexism, misogyny, grievance, white nationalism, that was very much a part of Donald Trump's campaign.
And I think we need to acknowledge it. We need to talk about it. And then I think, as a country, we need to confront it. We’ve never done it in our history. We probably won't do it now.
But I think we need to acknowledge the fact that the incoming president of the United States openly ran on racist messages about fellow citizens, non-citizens, people who have always come to this country seeking a better life long before "Build the wall."
So, yeah, we could talk about education realignment. We can talk about political realignment. But until we talk about the grievances that Donald Trump exploited, as Professor Dittmar said, we're going to be in this mess for a while.
BENNETT: What about that, David, that that wasn't disqualifying?
DAVID BROOKS: Yes, a million things have shocked me that have not been disqualifying about Donald Trump.
I personally think Donald Trump is clearly a misogynist. I think he's clearly a racist. I think that's been in his family for generations, frankly. But to make that argument, somehow, you also have to explain why the gender gap went down, why Kamala Harris did worse among women than Joe Biden did.
Somehow, you have to explain why Trump got more Black voters than any Republicans since Richard Nixon. Somehow, you have to explain how he massively improved Republicans standing among Hispanic voters. And so he created this broad network.
And the way I would explain those phenomenon is race and sexism were clearly major facts in American life. But I think in our politics, class is rising in salience and race and gender are falling in salience. And when you say people had to choose between their race or their gender for — about white women, you're ignoring that they have brains and that they have economic views, they have social views, they have a million other views. And so those views are part of how people make their decisions, not just an ethnic identity.
