Hi Jean-Paul,

As I said in another comment, I am less sympathetic with those people who supported Trump during the primaries. I think they have less of an excuse.

But there are a two things you’re overlooking: (1) Republicans who didn’t support Trump in the primaries and (2) Republicans who didn’t think anyone but Trump could win the general.

(1) Not all Republicans voted for Trump in the primaries. Trump was helped out by divided field where he was an outlier. It’s plausible that most Rubio/Cruz/Kasich supporters would have consolidated behind a single challenger to Trump in the primaries. It was really ridiculous and self-serving for Kasich to stay in as long as he did.

Once Trump won the primaries, these non-Trump supporting Republicans then were faced with a Trump vs Clinton scenario.

(2) Some Republicans who voted for Trump in the primaries did so because they believed that he was the only candidate who could have won in a Trump vs Clinton scenario. While it’s impossible to have certainty regarding this, it does seem like Trump won in some areas that went for Obama in 08, 16 and that Ted Cruz wouldn’t have won.

Your comments on Clinton are out of touch with reality. You vague refer to a single issue but you don’t spell out how Clinton was actually more conservative to Trump or why any conservative would have believed this.

You then claim that Trump never emphasized policy. That is, again, out of touch with reality. Trump emphasized immigration policy, trade policy, and foreign policy generally at every single rally. You downplay this fact just so you can build up the (skewed) narrative about Trump being a racist.