Author, journalist and editor, Ben Bradlee Jr. is the man who delivered some really bad news at the Fifth Annual Palm Beach Book Festival last weekend.
It’s not usually a platform for the delivery of bad news — or actually any kind of news other than news of the publication of great, readable books. So, I wasn’t expecting the bombshell Ben delivered. I was there because Ben is a hero of mine.
Spotlight on Scandal
He is the Boston Globe deputy managing editor who assigned a team of top-notch investigative reporters to expose the sex abuse scandal rampant in the Catholic Church in Boston.
Columnist George F. Will recently wrote that it was the Boston Globe that “lit the fuse for the national explosion of fury about the sexual abuse by Catholic clergy” and the “stonewalling by the Catholic hierarchy.” The Pulitzer prize-winning expose was the subject of an Oscar-winning movie, Spotlight in 2015. In the movie, John Slattery portrayed Bradlee Jr.
Bad News In Pennsylvania
Bradlee was at the Book Festival to talk about his new book, The Forgotten: How the People of One Pennsylvania County Elected Donald Trump and Changed America. He told the audience: ” I was obsessed with Donald J. Trump and that someone like him could get as far as he did
In the book, Bradlee Jr. describes how he picked Luzerne County, Pa. a working class community, as a microcosm of the nation. Then, how he spent fourteen months getting to know the Trump voters in that county. After interviewing nearly a hundred people, he decided to “tell the stories” of a dozen of them in depth.
One of the early reviewers of this book, Katrina Vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation states on the back cover: “The Forgotten is a riveting and empathetic portrait of a cross section of the people of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, which arguably gave Trump that state — and the presidency.”
At the Book Festival, Bradlee Jr. told the audience that most of the group are “first generation Republicans.” He said, “their parents and grandparents were die-hard Democrats, but they felt isolated and forgotten. They felt cast aside and looked down upon by liberal culture. Trump came along and they felt heard by him while Hillary made them feel ashamed.”
In the book, Bradlee Jr. quotes one of the voters saying: “Hillary makes me apologize if I want to hunt and don’t have a college education.” Added Bradlee Jr., “these voters were moved to roll over the table and break some china.”
Divided Families in Luzerne County
Some of what comes out of the mouths of these voters has been heard and dissected by the media since the election, just like the observations that Trump’s election tore apart families. Bradlee Jr., however, drives home the divisiveness by reproducing a series of texts between Lynette Villano, a 72- year-old widow and one of his interviewees and her grandson, Connor Mulvey, then an undergraduate at Tulane University.
Here are a couple of excerpts from the book:
Lynette texted the day after the election: “I guess you can probably figure out I’m very happy today. Donald Trump […]defied conventional wisdom at every turn. Hopefully I will be going to the inauguration.”
Connor replied: “Donald Trump is a bigoted imbecile who tapped into the racism and ignorance in America […] My LGBT friends are scared. My Muslim friends are scared. My Hispanic friends are scared. My female friends are scared […] Congratulations, you’ve damaged America. I hope it was worth it.”
Lynette replied: ” I’ve saved America and I am very proud. It is your future that kept me strong and made me work harder […] Us uneducated deplorables are a lot smarter than you think. Learn how to be grateful for all the opportunity you have and especially a family that cares about you.”
Connor texted back: “Your party has become the party of the KKK and neo-Nazis […] Maybe if you went to college you would realize that Trump is the worst candidate in modern history […] Maybe you would also realize your party wants to totally infringe on basic civil rights of women, the LGBT community and minorities.”
Lynette was not invited to attend her grandson’s graduation from Tulane in May 2017 or his twenty-first birthday celebration.
Two Years Later
So, okay we get it. We know the younger generation was the first to protest the Trump election. But it’s been two+ plus years since 2016, and since then we’ve all seen and felt the impact of having a “rich, crass, louche, ignorant, New Yorker” (Bradlee’s description) as president of the United States.
We’ve all seen the escalation in hate crimes, news footage of children caged on the border, a tax cut that benefitted corporations and the super wealthy. We’ve all read and/or heard about his tweets and rants (sometimes up to 50 a day), his praise for foreign dictators, and his lies upon lies upon lies — documented meticulously by the Washington Post “in what seems to be an act of futility,” adds Bradlee Jr.
Which at the Book Festival leads him to ponder aloud that Trump has a “base that’s rock solid. His supporters are emotionally invested in him, and when he’s criticized by the liberal Press, they think they are being attacked.”
And, yet there were signs of hope in the 2018 mid-terms. So, did that mean that Luzerne County Trump voters regretted their support for him, too?
Bradlee Jr., has kept in touch with his group of voters. He adds that he tries to do his part in advancing civil discourse on the issues and on this president in emails between them.
Bad News Bombshell
Then, he says: “Eleven of the twelve…”
I crane forward in my seat. I’m expecting him to say something like “eleven of the twelve have changed their minds” or “eleven of the twelve say they made a mistake supporting Trump.”
But No!
Bradlee Jr. says: “Eleven of the twelve would vote for Trump again.”
Really? Seriously? Are you kidding me? But apparently, yes. So, there it was, the really bad news of the afternoon.
What To Do?
What’s the solution for 2020? Well, for starters, Seymour Hersh Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter has an idea which he states in his review of the The Forgotten on the back cover: “This is a book that should be absorbed by the millions of Democrats who still cannot understand how Donald Trump won in 2016.”
To which I would add: And, it should be absorbed twice, or even three times over by all the Democratic presidential candidates who have already announced and/or who are planning to run against Trump next year.
Hi Joanna, I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciated this post. Normally when I see you are writing about politics I don’t read your blog since my political leanings are more in line with your husbands. However, I found this very interesting. The story about the grandmother and her grandson at Tulane is very close to the story between me and my son. Shortly after Trump was elected my son disowned me. His words. Since then he got married. Not only did he not tell me he was getting married he didn’t tell his grandparents who agree with him politically. My mother found out through Facebook who then told me! We continue to be estranged supposedly because of politics. I would love to read Bradlee’s book but I already have a pile of books unread. If I’m not working I have to pay attention to you know who so I hardly read anymore! Haha!
Hi Vickie, thank you for commenting. The very sad thing about the 2016 election is that it was so divisive among families and friends. I don’t know what the answer to that is. For once I am stumped.