PHILADELPHIA — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi thinks she knows why white men prefer GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton. Surprisingly, she didn’t blame sexism, but her attempts to speak for white men could be viewed as, well, sexist.
“So many times, white — non-college-educated — white males have voted Republican,” Pelosi told PBS. “They voted against their own economic interests because of guns, because of gays, and because of God, the three G’s — God being the woman’s right to choose.”
First, she starts off by implying these men are stupid because they didn’t go to college. That right there might be a reason many working-class men don’t support the Democratic Party. But I’m not a white man, so I can only speculate as to their reasoning.
Second, she insists these men care more about social issues than economic issues. Many people vote Republican because they recognize that free stuff from the government isn’t free, and that raising taxes on the rich can’t pay for it all. So they are voting in their own economic interests. There’s also a point in here about how people in low-income areas keep voting to keep the Democratic Party in power even though their lives don’t improve. It’s also possible that many white men don’t like Clinton because of her mishandling of classified information and promises to continue President Obama’s legacy, which has seen record numbers of people leave the workforce.
Let’s flip the script and think of how it would look if a white male politician gave an interview and suggested women prefer Hillary because of “abortion, contraceptives and the belief that women are paid less than men for equal work.” There would be outrage from certain feminist circles. Shouts of “no uterus, no opinion!” would echo.
Perhaps men should start responding with “no penis, no opinion!” when women try to speak for them.
One poll found that white men prefer Trump over Clinton 56 percent to 25 percent. That means 44 percent don’t support Trump, and 19 percent don’t support either candidate. Pelosi’s comments about white men also insult the 44 percent who don’t stand with Trump. Democrats have been trying to talk about “standing together” during the convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but insulting a large bloc of the population is no way to unify.
Her whole answer is exactly the kind of tone-deafness that has made so many Americans back Trump. Seeing the political elite imply they are dumb or pander to minority groups and women because they believe white men will always be there could make some people think twice about supporting those elites. Every demographic in this country experiences its own distinct set of issues, and politicians of both parties have been ignoring a very specific population in the name of social justice.
Now, some may lament that it’s okay to disparage white men because they are oppressors, but that’s a generalized statement and, frankly, sexist. Not every white man is powerful and wealthy (and not every powerful and wealthy white man is a soulless jerk). Middle-class and low-income white men face unique problems that aren’t being addressed by politicians who favor outreach to women and minorities. The outreach is good and necessary, but it can be done without ignoring a large demographic.
Ashe Schow is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
