On Monday’s broadcast of Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor,” host Bill O’Reilly opened his program with his take on what is motivating Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump’s rise during his “Talking Points Memo” segment.
According to O’Reilly, that rise is fueled by what he deemed to be “white grievance,” which he specifically defined as white working class males that feel disaffected by both political parties.
Transcript as follows:
White grievance and the Republican Party. That is the subject of this evening’s Talking Points memo. All the polls say the same thing. Donald Trump’s rise is being fueled largely by white men who are both angry and furiously angry with both political parties. At this point 47 percent of Republican women say they will not vote for Donald Trump according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll. So it’s the guys who have catapulted the candidate to the top of the Republican Party pack.
Election post, Donald Trump is favored by 50 percent of the Republican voters who make less than $50,000 a year. Most of them men. Also Mr. Trump is supported by just 32 percent of Republicans who have college degrees according to polling from 20 Republican primary states. So you can see that Trump support is largely coming from working class white men who feel aggrieved. Now, we have seen this before in America. The Black grievance industry is a powerful force. That group sells the notion that most problems in the African-American precincts are caused by White people and historical oppression.
While the media gives that view a lot of attention, most African-Americans themselves reject the propaganda. Recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation says 61 percent of American blacks believe the breakdown of the African-American family is a major reason for the economic deprivation in social problems in the black community. Now, in the White side the issue is similar. Many white Americans believe that illegal immigration hurts their job prospects and are angered by changing neighborhoods and changing social patterns. Their refrain is often, I want my country back. These voters are tired of seeing welfare doled out to people who are not motivated to succeed or even American citizens.
They are angry that terrorism is not being contained. They see the Republican Party as largely cowardly in the face of political correctness. The white grievance crew also believes they are being oppressed economically and that nobody is looking out for them. Enter Donald Trump, who vividly reflects that anger and who has criticized his own party for being weak. Now, both the Black and the White grievance movements have some legitimate points. There is no question that in poor black neighborhoods, schools are generally deficient because the property tax base which supports the schools is low.
So poor black kids are not being educated as well as affluent children. That’s true. On the White side, here is a very simple example. The Republican Party did not, did not get behind Kate’s law which would have partially punished illegal alien felons who defy deportation. While GOP senators like Grassley, McCain, and Cruz did actively try to get Kate’s law passed, the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not. And in general, Republican politicians did not raise the flag on this issue. I mean, when you control both Houses of Congress, as a Republicans do, and you cannot get a just law like Kate’s law passed, there is a serious again, again Donald Trump is tapped into that chaos.
Going forward, Mr. Trump’s nomination not a lock. He has made serious mistakes and will have to win over millions of Americans who do not believe he is qualified. If you believe the polls, Mr. Trump is in for a rough day tomorrow in Wisconsin. That being said, the issue of White grievance not going away. And Trump will maintain a very loyal level of support. Many of his supporters, as I said, are furious. And Mr. Trump does not get the nomination, the stay home factor, in next November’s vote is likely to be substantial. And that’s the memo.
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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