New York Times columnist Charles Blow this week pushed back against calls for liberals to reach out to President Donald Trump's supporters.
In his column on Thursday, Blow responds to people like New York Times writer Nicholas Kristof who have cautioned against vilifying Trump voters.
Blow reminds his readers that Democrats were in a similar position after President Ronald Reagan's re-election in 1984.
"Democrats were whining and moaning, shuffling their feet and scratching their heads," he writes. "But just like Donald Trump’s path to victory, Reagan’s was strewn with racial hostilities and prejudicial lies."
"So, then as now, economic anxiety and throbbing xenophobia were convenient shields behind which brewing racial animus could hide," Blow notes. "And yet, Democrats in 1984 were quick to look for the lessons they could learn on how to reach out to the Reagan coalition, instead of condemning it."
The Times columnist argues that compassionate conservatism is dead and that "Trump and his band of backward-thinking devotees killed it."
"Indeed, it feels like the campaign promises Trump is keeping have to do with cruelty and those he’s flip-flopping on have to do with character," Blow observes. "For instance, it is now abundantly clear that Trump had no intention whatsoever of draining the swamp in Washington. He is simply restocking it to his liking."
"This is why I have no patience for liberal talk of reaching out to Trump voters," he says. "There is no more a compromise point with those who accept, promote and defend bigotry, misogyny and xenophobia than there is a designation of 'almost pregnant.'"
Blow concludes by insisting that opponents of Trump "must be closed to compromise."
"Trump is a cancer on this country and resistance is the remedy," he declares. "Fight, fight, fight. And when you are finished, fight some more. Victory is the only acceptable outcome when freedom, equality and inclusion are at stake."
