Hillary Is Right about Trump Supporters, but the Press Can't Go There. Why?

Polls overwhelmingly show that Clinton's description of the Trump crowd fits with who they are and what they believe.

They may be for Trump, but they're not happy campers.

I find solace in not being a Donald Trump supporter. It turns out they're nothing like me, so that's good. Te-Nahisi Coates reports:

We know, for instance, some nearly 60 percent of Trump’s supporters hold “unfavorable views” of Islam, and 76 percent support a ban on Muslims entering the United States. We know that some 40 percent of Trump’s supporters believe blacks are more violent, more criminal, lazier, and ruder than whites. Two-thirds of Trump’s supporters believe the first black president in this country’s history is not American. These claim are not ancillary to Donald Trump’s candidacy, they are a driving force behind it.

But we knew that, and Hillary has been pressing this for days before her "basket of deplorables" statement, describing in several speeches what elements of Americans were coalescing behind Trump. They're not a pretty bunch. But Josh Marshall in TPM points out that, amid the outrage Trump and his surrogates have been voicing, no one is saying Hillary isn't speaking the truth:

As far as I know, this hasn't been mentioned. But it jumped out at me pretty immediately. As far as I can tell, none of the Trump campaign pushback to Clinton's "basket of deplorables" comments have said anything about the people Clinton was talking about not being racist, not being misogynist or by whatever definition not being 'haters.' It's not referenced once. Check out the statements after the jump.

Does that strike you as a bit odd. [sic]

Yes, it does, but it points out what Coates does, that the truth of the statement isn't the first thing political reporters do. First, they diagnose what the likely political outcome will be -- will it hurt Hillary, is this her 47 percent moment!? -- on the horserace. The truth of the statement is secondary or simply irrelevant.

Sad, but certainly the political reality of this sillier-than-average season.

Note. One of the views of Hillary's use of "half" and "basket of deplorables" is that her use of language was "inartful." What should she have called them, a clusterfuck of assholes? No matter the word choice, the truth is the truth.