The Atlantic

A Voter in His 20s Gives Up on Liberal Democracy

He supported Donald Trump on the theory that “his illiberal tendencies are actually a feature rather than a bug.”
Source: Brendan McDermid / Reuters

Many Donald Trump supporters have generously taken time in recent days to explain what the president-elect would have to do to lose their support. So far, I’ve highlighted two emails that represent significant if opposing factions within the Trump coalition: an immigration restrictionist hoping for conservative Supreme Court appointments and a moderate who wants Trump to govern as a liberal-centrist. It will be tough, I think, for the president-elect to satisfy both of those factions.

Today I present an email from a different kind of Trump supporter. He represents a much smaller part of the Trump coalition. And yet, it is a part that depresses me, because my 20-something correspondent has given up on the American experiment. Lest you think I exaggerate, I’ll let him present his ideas in his own words.

He begins:

I'm a college-educated white male in my late 20s. Before I became a devotee of Trumpism, I voted for Ron Paul in both 2008 and 2012. I used to define myself as a Libertarian, but have intellectually drifted away

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