Naval War College professor Tom Nichols hit President Donald Trump where it hurts the most on Memorial Day by calling him the most unmanly president in history.
Masculinity is a trait conservatives seem to hold up above all others, yet for some reason, they love Trump.
In a column for The Atlantic, Nichols asked how they could possibly support him even though he isn’t even close to fitting their perception of masculinity.
“Why do working-class white men—the most reliable component of Donald Trump’s base—support someone who is, by their own standards, the least masculine man ever to hold the modern presidency?” he asked.
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“Courage, honesty, respect, an economy of words, a bit of modesty, and a willingness to take responsibility are all virtues prized by the self-identified class of hard-working men, the stand-up guys, among whom I was raised,” Nichols wrote. “And yet, many of these same men expect none of those characteristics from Trump, who is a vain, cowardly, lying, vulgar, jabbering blowhard.”
Nichols points out that Trump constantly brags about how supposedly brave he is, but that’s not something manly men do.
“Truly brave people never tell you how brave they are,” Nichols said. “I have known many combat veterans, and none of them extols his or her own courage. What saved them, they will tell you, was their training and their teamwork. Some—perhaps the bravest—lament that they were not able to do more for their comrades.”
Indeed, my grandfather served during World War II and he never spoke about his wartime experiences until near the end of his life. In fact, most military veterans are reluctant to speak about what they did in combat and they certainly do not go around bragging about how brave they are or would be in hypothetical situations like Trump did when he said he would run unarmed into a school to confront a school shooter.
Trump couldn’t even pick up a weapon and serve during the Vietnam War, choosing to dodge the draft multiple times instead. Nichols also noted that Trump can’t even confront Russian President Vladimir Putin and always cowers around him. Trump also fears female reporters who challenge him.
And then there’s Trump’s refusal to take responsibility for anything.
“In this category, he exhibits one of the most unmanly of behaviors: He’s a blamer,” Nichols continued. “Nothing is ever his fault. In the midst of disaster, he praises himself while turning on even his most loyal supporters without a moment’s hesitation. Men across America who were socialized by team sports, whose lives are predicated on the principle of showing up and doing the job, continually excuse a man who continually excuses himself.”
What’s really going to enrage Trump is that Nichols went on to hold up Howard Stern as an example of masculinity that Trump will never achieve.
Whatever you think of Stern, however, he’s much more of a man, by any definition, than Trump. For one thing, Stern is often self-effacing in the extreme, which is both part of his act and a source of the charm he possesses. Stern routinely jokes about the inadequacy of his male endowment. Trump, however, went to pains to reassure the country—in the middle of a presidential primary debate—that his equipment has ‘no problem.’ Stern knows how to take his lumps in public, while Trump is a wailing siren of complaints.”
Trump is a boy, not a man, Nichols concluded. He doesn’t know how to be a man because none of the men in his life were real men either. This doesn’t excuse Trump’s behavior, nor should it. His supporters should practice what they preach about manhood and hold Trump accountable. But they won’t because not only are they hypocrites, they are not real men either.
Featured image via screen capture
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