Why do people support Donald Trump? Jamelle Bouie writes that explanations citing economic decline and everyday racial resentment ignore the most important catalyst for Trump’s rise: the election of a black president in 2008. “None of these theories answer the question why now. Each of these forces has been in play for years,” Bouie argues. “What caused this fire to burn out of control? The answer, I think, is Barack Obama.”
Why is Ivanka Trump—a seemingly level-headed, intelligent woman, who, Jessica Winter writes, “radiates warmth and star wattage”—acting as the female face of her father’s campaign? Winter takes a long look at the Trump daughter’s persona and career, and is ultimately flummoxed: “[Ivanka’s] complicity in her father’s crusade, like so much else about the Trump campaign, has gone from merely embarrassing to outright alarming.”
Over the weekend, Isaac Chotiner made a passionate argument against liberal schadenfreude in the age of Trump. “Those liberals who find themselves rooting for Trump, in the hope that his continued success will only further damage the GOP, are playing with fire—and putting their self-satisfaction ahead of the interests of the country,” Chotiner wrote.
NBC sitcom The Carmichael Show aired a Bill Cosby–themed episode on Sunday night and, writes Aisha Harris, did something totally new with the material. On the show, “the conversation [about Cosby] is restricted solely to a dialogue between black characters,” observes Harris. “It unpacks just how difficult it has been to deal with the revelations as a black American.”
OK, OK, so Slate commenters are having some fun with Will Oremus’ piece about the Internet gold local newspapers are leaving on the floor by continuing to write boring, information-first headlines. Oremus still has a point.
For fun: Pi Day is good. Pie itself, not so much. Nathan Heller’s argument against the least satisfactory of desserts is one for the ages.
Personally, I’ll take cake,
Rebecca
