Secondly, the main conceit of this argument is that attacks on Trump’s alleged racism and demagoguery are falling on deaf ears — or, at least, ears that have become hard of hearing thanks to exaggerated Democratic attacks. This argument is a derivative of the GOP primary, in which we repeatedly asked ourselves how in the world the controversial things Trump is saying aren’t hurting him more.
The answer was that they were hurting him — among the general electorate. And looking at Trump’s numbers, it’s pretty hard to make the case that vast swaths of the country aren’t consuming and buying into the idea that he has problems with racism and/or bigotry.
A Suffolk poll this week showed that 44 percent of Americans believe Trump is a racist, and about 6 in 10 (59 percent) told Quinnipiac University pollsters that Trump’s campaign appeals to bigotry. As Philip Bump noted, “a plurality of every demographic save Republicans felt that he appealed to bigotry.”
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