I understand Trump voters. Do I also have to empathize with them?

No. I certainly do not empathize with them. Trump is an erratic, senile, spiteful, incompetent coup plotter. It doesn’t matter that I actually agreed with many of his policies, as much as they could be called policies given their poor real-world implementation.

Competence matters. And Trump is the opposite of competent. And a coup matters more. That many voters want to vote for someone after he has shown all of us exactly who he is says that those people deserve the pain they will cause themselves if he wins. Thus, no empathy from me. There is enough evidence to know what you’re getting and that you still want it says all I need to hear.

Inherent in Kristof’s argument, too, is the kind of moral relativism that often afflicts the left — this idea that the disadvantaged are somehow less responsible for their moral decisions than the rest of us are.

A lot of the left does enjoy pretending everyone who is not them is like a child. It’s annoying, it’s incorrect, and it does their side of the argument no favors. It breeds resentment in your opponents and causes their underestimation.

Our elites like Kristof are pretty bad. But the average dumbass who supports Trump after his demonstrated incompetence and his coup attempt is even worse.