Sean Spicer, President Donald Trump’s former Press Secretary says he thinks he knows why Trump is being steadily beaten by former Vice President Joe Biden in recent polls. And it’s not just because Trump is doing a poor job in pretty much every respect, except when it comes to oppressing Black people [1] and the poor. [2]
No, in that regard, he’s done a stellar job, aligning himself with white supremacists [3] and playing golf at Mar-a-Lago with his equally well-heeled friends every chance he gets.
But Spicer says the reason Trump’s polling so low is that his supporters are too embarrassed to say they are voting for him, The Independent [4] reports. They don’t even want to admit their support for him to their family and friends, and Spicer noted this in a tweet.
“Crucial takeaway in new poll showing why polls will continue to be an issue: ‘only 37 percent of @realDonaldTrump would want their friends and family to know how they had voted while 74 percent of @JoeBiden supporters are comfortable with it being known.”
Crucial takeaway in new poll showing why polls will continue to be an issue:
"only 37 % of @realDonaldTrump [5] voters would want their friends and family to know how they had voted while 74 % of @JoeBiden [6] supporters are comfortable with it being known, https://t.co/ikK1f5OEnT [7]— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) June 16, 2020 [8]
The poll Spicer is referring too was conducted by the Democracy Institute, a D.C.-based think tank established by UK newspaper The Daily Express. [9]
And this could indeed have ramifications. Trump has been savaged in a series of campaign ads by the Biden campaign and The Lincoln Project, [10] an anti-Trump Republican group.
Trump’s done a particularly hamfisted job in handling the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in more than [11] 116,000 deaths in the U.S., and with that, accompanied by escalating racial tensions this means it’s understandable that his supporters may be too ashamed to admit they still plan to vote for him.
But this says more about Trump supporters than it does about Trump. It means these people can’t admit when they’re wrong. And they’ve been very, very wrong for the past four years.
And don’t think Trump doesn’t know this. He’s encouraged by the possibility, tweeting in all caps “THE SILENT MAJORITY IS STRONGER THAN EVER!!!” referencing a phrase formerly used by Richard Nixon.
THE SILENT MAJORITY IS STRONGER THAN EVER!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 14, 2020 [12]
He’s tweeting in all caps because shouting is the only thing Donald Trump knows how to do well. And the fact that his supporters may propel him to a second term despite their obvious cowardice, is troublesome. It’s worrisome that all but two polls conducted by FiveThirtyEight [13] since the beginning of June shows Biden leading by between three and 14 points, because if Spicer’s suspicions are correct those of us who hope for a better future may be in for a huge disappointment come November.