Vance, Trump, and The Politics of Hate

Who Are the& ‘Right People’& to Hate? —William Kristol “I think our people hate the right people,” a relaxed JD Vance& confided& to an interviewer three years ago. By “our people,” Vance meant the followers of Donald Trump, whose support he intended to win in the Ohio Republican senate primary. By “the right people,” Vance meant liberal elites. And yet, it was also clear that Vance knew one couldn’t foster hatred for liberal elites without the collateral damage of hatred for immigrants, racial and ethnic minorities, cultural nonconformists, and any of the groups whom those elites were supposedly elevating at the expense of “our people.” But these past few weeks suggest that it wasn’t merely collateral damage at all. The assault on& these& groups really was the point. The alleged failures of liberal elites (to, say, close the border or protect manufacturing jobs) are the excuse for the assaults on immigrants and minorities that we’ve seen throughout the Trump years. That’s where the real political payoff is. Let’s return, for a moment, to Vance’s telling sentence. By “hate” Vance means . . . hate. Not disagreement or even dislike. Hate. Vance’s politics are the politics of hate. Perhaps he once...