Eric Trump tells George Stephanapolis I can't tell you the number of people who come up to me

[politicaljunkie41910]

on a daily basis and say, "I haven't voted in 50 years, but I'm voting for your dad."

Assuming Eric is not lying, (though I think that number who tell him that on a daily basis is very small if not non-existent), what would be the demographic of someone who hasn't voted in 50 years, which would be since 1966. Probably the last year in which Trump supporters thought America was still great. My first thought is that the primary demographic that comes to my mind of someone who is at least 68 years old and who hasn't voted in 50 years is, someone whose been on drugs or an alcoholic, or in prison and thus was stripped of his right to vote upon conviction. (For purposes of this post, I'll disregard the 26th Amendment which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 in 1971 to keep this point simple.)

My second thought is of black men and women who have jobs which would not have allowed them to go vote without getting paid for the time lost by exercising their right to vote. This second group would not be your typical employee, but someone like a caretaker for someone else, or someone self-employed at the lower end of the social-economic scale. We do know that there were a lot of blacks who voted for Obama who said that it was their first time voting so I do believe that they may exist, I just don't think that they represent a measurable quantity of Trump supporters.

The past 50 years have been some of the most turbulent, i.e. the Vietnam War protests, the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Watt Riots of 1965, Freedom March in Selma in 1965, Rodney King riots in LA in 1992, Roe v. Wade Decision 1973. My guess is a more typical demographic of a person who hasn't voted in 50 years is someone who lives in a Red state and doesn't have either a birth certificate or other acceptable ID that will permit he or she to jump through all the hoops that the GOP Governor in his or her state requires of them in order for them to exercise their constitutional right to vote, but then I don't expect to find he or she at a Trump rally. So I think Eric Trump is a liar like his daddy.

[Wounded Bear]

1. Because he can't count up to 10 maybe?

[Maeve]

3. He can't tell you the number because it's a negative

He's exaggerating--it maybe happened once or twice that someone told him "It's been years since I voted...". If we're lucky, that person isn't registered anymore anyway.

[NurseJackie]

4. He's a liar ... just like his dad.

[LisaL]

5. These people would have to be over 68 if you take what he said literally.

I doubt he means it literally.

[ScienceIsGood]

9. They could be 50 years old. And never voted! n/t

[kimbutgar]

6. I'm sure there are a lot of stupid Cheeto supporters who aren't registered

Or have felony convictions who will go to the polls on Election Day and be told they can't vote. When I see his supporters a lot look like they spent time behind bars. Aryan brotherhood jail types. Will they get violent when told they can' t vote?

[MyOwnPeace]

27. "Wha'd ya mean, I CAN'T vote?" See!!!!!!

He sayed it is rigged!!!!!!

I knewed he was right!!!!

[Journeyman]

7. My mother-in-law, 85 years old, has never voted and won't vote this election . . .

She thinks Trump would be a disaster as President. But she won't bestir herself to cast a ballot. No idea why. She just doesn't vote, never has. I suspect there are more like her than there are those planning to shake off their chrysalis of apathy and emerge, fully ready to spread wings and cast their first ballot for an unknown, a fool full of flash & filigree, with no substance to inspire much of anything.

[Maru Kitteh]

15. Is your MIL extremely religious?

Many of them, especially the older ones have refrained from voting because they considered it to be an indication of being too much "in/of this world" instead of keeping their focus on heaven.

Some women that age sadly still also think of voting as something best left to menfolk.

[Journeyman]

17. Not religious at all. And I don't believe she feels it "best left to menfolk" . . .

She chooses not to participate. I suspect in some measure it is unfamiliarity with the issues, and a lack of interest in those sorts of concerns. Quite myopic, in my view. But if that's her choice, one of such standing, who am I to question it. And I have never been one to encourage the ignorant to vote -- they'd as soon act against their interests as they would in favor, perhaps more so, as they would be more susceptible to the manipulations of unscrupulous partisans.

[rbrnmw]

19. I registered a 55 year old first time voter scared of Trump

a white male

[tinrobot]

8. If all you do is listen to the echo chamber, you'll certainly hear stuff like that.

The young lad spends all of his time in his father's alt-right bubble.

He's also prone to exaggeration, like his Dad, so he cherry picks the good stories to tell and ignores the rest.

Same thing happened to Romney. He was all set to win on election night because he only spent time in the right wing/Fox News bubble. He never looked at competing sources of information. People said Romney was actually shocked when he lost.

[relayerbob]

10. Cant? or won't?

[Foggyhill]

11. Its white men that had their childhood in the 1941-1964 era that vote strongly Trump

So, didn't vote since 1964, was 18, means they're at least 70 years old now.

They grew up in a time of racism, misoginy, booming economy post war + US hegemony (because most of world had been wiped out by the war). This is the good old days for them.

By the time they were getting a job in 1968, this "white ideal world" world was crumbling, Vietnam, Watergate, Voting Rights Act, Great Society, Civil Rights, Youth Culture (in particular black culture) goes mainstream, Women's movement Title IX Roe vs Wade, increasing foreign competition impacted manufacturing and jobs moving to tertiary sector, Vatican II + increase in divorces, high inflation, oil embargo.

Despite all that, they still mostly got the better jobs with almost no education than person's of colours and women. Their fort of bigotry and misogyny had been assaulted but brought down. Yet, as jobs that required only a basic education whittled under the pressure of emerging developing nations, they're resentment grew, their children were living in a world they hated and they taught them to hate it too (they are the other major group of Trump voters). That post war period of their childhood because the lost world that those (fill in the hate train) had stolen from their children.

They retired and see their children, with little education having to compete, or be bellow in the social strata, than blacks, minorities and women! For them, this is a time of horror; to be as poor as a black man, there is no worse shame.

The older, voted for Truman and FDR and maybe Ike (which lets face it, would be democrat) generation seems to be going for the democrat. It is the other older people, those that voted Nixon, Goldwater and for Southern Democrats from 1952-1964 that are voting Trump.


So, this is mostly about reclaiming their youth, and bemoaning the fact their kids can't not get a good education and get the same thing they had. They're youth were at the time of the greatest US influence and economic strength post WWII because all our allies were in the dumps.

[scarletwoman]

12. It's not entirely implausible - think about how many people in this country never vote.

Our national election turnouts are generally less that 60% - I don't have the exact figure at hand, but I know it's pathetically low compared to other countries.

There are simply lots and lots of people who don't give a shit about politics or elections or any of that stuff. Think about the old "Jay Walking" segments that Leno used to do on the Tonight Show - how many jaw-droppingly ignorant, disengaged and clueless people there are out there.

Well, there's a good chance that Trump HAS gotten the attention of some of these totally non-politcal mouth-breathers because of the entertainment/reality TV aspect of his campaign. I don't think there's any question that he appeals to the most ignorant among us, and that some of them probably do get a notion to vote for the first time in their vapid little lives.

[Foggyhill]

13. Good things actual new voter registrations don't seem to support what Trump's spawn says

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

14. I wonder if the Trumps have registered to vote?

I wouldn't be surprised if they haven't.

It would be interesting to challenge their ballots on election day, just as Trump is urging his followers to do.

[wishstar]

16. Probably like someone I know in NC who has never voted except when George Wallace ran

This acquaintance of mine is a racist, misogynist, older white male who believes in double standard for men and women, has never cared about elections because he worked on RR his whole life after a brief stint in Vietnam and has always had a good salary, health care, and great retirement benefits but still a deep resentment over any of his taxes going to help the less fortunate.

[mythology]

24. George Wallace did run on the American Independent ticket in 1968

That's more or less 50 years ago. So I will take Eric Trump at his word. His dad's supporters are people who last had a bigoted, racist, misogynist to vote for 48 years ago.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

18. Assuming it's true, the prime suspects would be...

... Dixiecrats, I think.

People who used to vote as Democrats in the South until civil rights laws were passed in the 60's.

[oasis]

22. Many more told the sniveling snot "go straight to hell w/dad"

[ck4829]

26. "And I gotta tell you, there's this handsome devil I keep seeing in reflective surfaces who always..

has great ideas that are huge and he told me about this and said people everywhere are voting for Dad and his not small hands."

[saltpoint]

28. Quite a folksy thing for Eric to say,

although his family is not exactly folksy.

Also I think fairly early in the evening on Nov. 8th, U.S. voters are going to elect Hillary Clinton and not Eric's dad.

[no_hypocrisy]

29. He can't because it hasn't happened.