I Would Never Support Someone Like Trump, Even If I Agreed with Their Policies

I see some Trump supporters maintain that they don't like the person, but they like his policies. This doesn't appear to be a large portion of the electorate, because his personal favorability rating has long been pretty close to his job approval rating. Nevertheless, they exist. While this separation of judgements between the personal and political does make me feel better, because at least they're not justifying the man's behavior, I can't help but note that I would never support someone like Trump. I have in the past voted for (but not volunteered for or donated to) candidates that I didn't like personally, but these were not blatant autocrats who were, as Trump is, openly trying to destroy their opposition, the democratic institutions, and the republic itself. I voted for Bill Clinton in 1996, despite a number of problems I had with him personally, but none of his many faults rose to the level of autocratic ambition. 

There are so many example of this behavior that I can point to, but I'm going to consider just one, because this one is all it takes. On a number of occasions in his 2016 campaign, Trump openly encouraged violence against hecklers in the audience. This is not only illegal (and he somehow didn't get arrested for it) but also betrays his autocratic ambitions. He can't tolerate dissent. His sees his political opponents as enemies. He's an aspiring dictator. I would never support someone like this, period.

I'll consider a candidate with a legislative agenda that perfectly aligns with my ideology, and yes, because I lean left by American standards, this agenda would include pillars such as single-payer health care, a high minimum wage, high taxes on the rich, liberal judges at all levels, free college, and strong environmental regulations. This would be my dream platform. However, the first time I observed this motherfucker stand on a fucking podium and galvanize thousands of rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth supporters to physically assault someone in the audience just because of heckling, there is no way I would continue to support that candidate. To emphasize, there's no way I would support that candidate, no chance, none, zero, zip, zilch, nada, nulla. No chance in hell. I wouldn't support a candidate who openly displayed such disdain for their political opponents, no matter how I agreed with their policies. My side didn't get the same courtesy and respect from the Trumpers, and this will be hard to forget.

The examples of Trump's assault on democracy have continued to pile up since those early days in his 2016 campaign. Egregious attack after egregious attack -- culminating in these efforts to overturn the legitimate election using preposterous allegations of voter fraud -- have not seemed to deter about 45% or so of the electorate. Support for a budding dictator's policies does not justify support for the budding dictator.